Kira vs the Black Organisation
by kinzies
Summary: Conan is faced with an impossible choice: Turn Kira over to the Black Organisation or Turn the Black organisation over to Kira. Meanwhile Light tries fake a meaningful relationship. Kaito is displeased. reviews always, always welcome.
1. Meeting

( Disclaimer: I do not own either Death Note or Detective Conan. I'm just borrowing the characters to do horrible things to them. :Db )

Light Yagami had no idea how he'd somehow gotten roped into a babysitting. His dad informed him that he had a job for him-a job Sayu was probably much more suited for as Light had things he'd rather be doing than staring down a seven year old brat. An extremely distrustful seven year old brat it seemed as the kid was staring rather intently at him. Something about his stare made Light slightly uneasy but he tried to ignore it. After all, what could a child do?

Neither had yet to say anything to one another. They were introduced, Light was given several contact number incase of an emergency and left alone with the kid. He assured the Mouri girl that it was no trouble and she took off to Karate practice. It was a good thing he'd filled in three days worth of names otherwise he might have felt quite a bit more irate about being forced into this.

Light helped with his little sister when he was younger but now he hadn't faintest clue how to handle a kid. Especially not this one-famous for foiling the infamous Kaitou Kid's plans. He wondered if he should say something to the kid-lay down ground rules, introduce himself formally or just try to get to know him just incase this happened again. He could tell by how little Conan was staring at him that he was about as happy with the arrangement as Light was. He was warned that this kid was smart and that he'd need to keep a constant eye on him, but if Conan wanted to just sit here and stare at him from across the coffee table then it made the job that much easier.

"Ne, have you been taking practice tests?" The question sounded so innocent and natural that it might have slid right over anyone else's head. Light stared at the child, eyes narrowing slightly. How did he know?

"Aa. Did my father tell you that I'll be applying to university?" He answered watching as the child shook his head once and pointed to Light's right arm. Light looked at it too.

"You have question two-hundred-twenty-five imprinted on your arm." Such a simple explanation. "Your dad did mention that you want to be a police detective and that you're about to be eightteen-at that age you're probably preparing for college. It could have been a real test but testing doesn't open up until January and midterms are over-the only way you'd have a test packet going up over two hundred and twenty five questions is if it was a practice test for university."

The way he explained it made it seem like such a simple deduction-like it wasn't even worth noting that he'd just accurately deduced what Light Yagami had been doing an hour before he'd gotten to the detective agency. At his age 'impressive' was an understatement.

"You are exactly right." Light admitted, trying to rub the faded question off his wrist and watching as Conan's lips quirked up into a small smile. He was obviously proud of his deduction. "I was studying to take the entrance exam for To-Oh University, but watching you for a few hours certainly won't hurt my final score. Anything else you've noticed?"

"Nothing that stands out." Conan shrugged with an overly innocent chirp. There was something he'd noticed, he just didn't want to say it outloud. Maybe he could coax him into it?

"Conan." Light tested the child's name, bright innocent eyes snapping up to meet his. "That's a bit of an odd name for a Japanese child isn't it?" Not that Light had much room to speak where names were concerned.

"It comes from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle." The child explained with a small shrug. "My dad is a big fan." His tone was even and words rolled off his tongue without an ounce of hesitation it couldn't be anything but the truth. More than that, the casual way in which he'd answered suggested he'd been asked the question before. However, there was an irritating chuckle coming from the houseguest that little Conan was unaware of. What did Ryuk find to be so funny? That Kira was being forced to make small talk with a seven year old. "Are you a fan?"

"Of course! Who isn't a fan of the great Sherlock Holmes?" Conan brightened, seeming to almost relax. With that deduction then Light really should have known that he'd be a fan. "Have you read it?"

"Once, when I was in middle school." Light found it to be irritatingly inconsistent but he wasn't about tell him that. Especially since it seemed Conan was starting to warm up to him at just the mention of Sherlock Holmes. "It's an impressive series. Is that where you learned your observation skills?"

"Exactly!" Conan nodded happily. "It's important for a detective to be able to see and observe." Which meant he had to have read more than he revealed. It couldn't have been anything to do with Kira-that wasn't something Sherlock Holmes could deduce let alone a child.

"I agree." Light offered affably.

"Then can you do it?" Conan asked eagerly, those bright, innocent eyes locked uncomfortably on him. Conan wanted him to observe-to offer up pinpoint deductions like this child had done. He'd never attempted to make deductions a la Sherlock Holmes before but Conan had made it seem like child's play. How hard could it be?

"What would you like me to deduce?" Light questioned. Conan gave him an unimpressed look.

"I don't want you to deduce. I want you to observe." Seriously? Did this child just correct him? So far watching this child was vaguely unnerving and irritating.

"What would you like me to _observe_?" Light corrected his question.

"If I have to tell you, then it's not really you observing is it? Pick something." Light took a breath and tried not to show Conan that he was irritating him. For all he knew that's exactly what this child's plan was. Why had he agreed to watching this brat?

"Find something for me to draw observations from." Light requested, keeping his voice nice and even. Conan slid off the couch across from him and went to the cluttered desk that nearly made Light cringe. It was covered in cigarette butts and beer cans. It was a wonder if Conan could find anything in that mess. He watched as the child pulled the swivel chair from behind the desk, pushed up against the window and pulled the glass back. Light could feel that the heater was on-he should probably tell Conan to close the window.

Before he had a chance to though, Conan spun the chair around, hopped out and dashed for the door, tearing it open and racing outside. This was why no one wanted to be charged with watching him, Light realised as he was forced to get up and give chase-just as he got out the door he could see the small child race through traffic-nearly get hit by an oncoming car-and over to the sidewalk across the street. Yes, it was quite apparent why Mouri Ran had been so apologetic about leaving them alone.

Light moved to the crosswalk, waited for the light to turn green and casually strolled over to a small cluster of people. He pushed his way through and saw immediately what had caused Conan to leave the agency in such a hurry-a man had collapsed on the sidewalk. Light didn't recognise him but that didn't necessarily mean it hadn't been his handiwork.

"What happened?" Light asked, watching as the child sifted through the man's things-pulling a wallet out of the breast pocket.

"Cyanide. It was probably in the cigarette." Conan stated in a cool, even tone. He didn't sound anything like he had when he was urging Light to make deductions. "His lips and fingertips have a purple tint-it's an indication of cyanide poisoning."

So it had been a blatant murder. And one that had happened just outside the building he was in. If the victim had been a criminal and one of Kira's victims then Light wouldn't have cared-he'd have told Conan to leave it to the police and come back inside before he caught a cold. This was personal.

"His name is Hanashi Ryosuke. Aged thirty-two." Conan was saying in that same cool and even tone. He wasn't even slightly moved by the dead body that had nearly dropped on his doorstep. He was looking at it like a challenge-a puzzle. Probably his way of desensitising himself to the crime. Conan dug into the man's pockets again and pulled out a small stack of business cards. His eyes snapped from the text printed on the card to the dead man's face to the likely poisoned cigarette by his hand-expression contemplative. "Video game engineer."


	2. Deductions

( Disclaimer, still don't own either Detective Conan or Death Note )

Kudou Shinichi refused to believe it was nothing more than a coincidence that a video game engineer just dropped dead right in front of the agency. He happened to know of some people in the market for video game engineers (for reasons he still wasn't clear on) that didn't like being told no. The question on his mind was if the man was coming to the agency with a case and was coincidentally murdered or had the murder been a message from someone inside the organisation? There was only one person within their ranks that he personally knew that would send a murder as a message to him. But there was one thing throwing him off.

He eyed the cigarette suspiciously. Poison wasn't really their style. Burning buildings down, sniping people on the street, arranging an 'accident' was more their style. However, Shinichi wasn't stupid enough to think one second that they couldn't arrange a crime without actually pulling the trigger. All it took was a little persuasion and a lot of pressure. He needed to solve this murder and see where it led him. The only problem was that he had to somehow come up with a plan to convince the guy babysitting 'Conan' that he needed to solve the murder.

He watched as the person who'd been left in charge of him hung up the phone from where he'd contacted the police. If Yagami wanted to do things by the book then he'd probably try and tell Conan to leave it to the police and that was something Shinichi could not allow.

"Hey." He switched to his sugary-sweet tone of voice. "You're going to be a police detective, right Light-niichan?" Light looked at him curiously, they'd already established that much and they both knew it. "Why don't you solve the murder?"

"What?" Light looked from him to the victim. The fact that he bothered to look at the victim told Shinichi he had at least a chance of convincing the older to go along with it.

"You should solve the murder." Conan chirped cheerfully. "It'll be good for you-I bet you could do it. It won't even be that hard-we already have a lead, _right?_ " Come on Yagami. Just solve the murder. He could tell that Light was at least thinking about it. Shinichi turned his attention to the business card. "This address is two stops away on the loopline. We could get there fifteen minutes if we're lucky."

"What about our statements, aren't those important?" Light countered. By the book. Shinichi repressed a groan. Nothing ever got done if you went by the book-or at least not fast enough for his taste.

"It'll be okay, I know the officers that work in the homicide division. We can give our statements later. But the longer we wait the more likely the murderer is to get away with it, right?" Shinichi continued to try and coax him.

"At least grab a jacket. I don't want you getting sick on my watch." Yagami finally caved. Shinichi stood back up and felt Light grip his upper arm before pulling him off to the side. "And this time we're taking the crosswalk."

ooooOOOOOoooo

Shinichi could tell that Yagami Light did not like the loopline. It wasn't surprising. He'd early read 'perfectionist' on the other based on the pristine condition of his clothing and how grimaced upon seeing Kogoro's desk. Ran had apologised about the mess and her father to which Light assured her it was okay. But it wasn't and Shinichi had read it on his face.

The loopline was worse. The seats were burnt orange and seemed to be permanently stained with coffee and probably a few other substances that Shinichi didn't really care to know about. It smelled like public transit tended to smell-a mixture of stale chips and sweat that nearly made you want to hold your breath. It was not a place a perfectionist could easily tolerate for long.

While Light tried to ignore his surroundings, Shinichi pulled out his phone and ran a search on the company name imprinted on one of the cards he'd taken from the crime scene. 'InoTek Gaming Systems' he typed into the search bar. The search yielded several results and Shinichi was content to just read up on the company while he waited for their stop.

"The man was left handed." Light stated, pulling Shinichi's attention from the phone. He wasn't wrong,it was more that it seemed a little random given the circumstances. "Divorced." Yagami went on. He was sharing his observations. "There was a mark on his left ring finger that suggests a ring used to go there."

"Mmhm!" He slid easily back into the persona of Edogawa Conan with an encouraging nod.

"Alcoholic and a smoker." Light turned his attention to Conan, waiting to see if he approved. Shinichi did approve. Yagami had missed most of the important stuff but not too many people would've noticed the missing wedding ring or alcoholism without first talking to someone that knew the victim.

"That's all correct." Shinichi stated, gaze drifting out to the window. "But you missed almost everything that was important."

"I see." Yagami closed his eyes, letting it roll off his back "In my defense, you have more practice in that area." He stated good naturedly. "What did you see?"

"You noticed he was a smoker but the correct term is chain smoker-he had heavy nicotine stains on his fingertips despite the purple discoloration. He smoked about two packs a day-there was an empty pack in his pocket and a full pack by his right hand. His watch was set a few hours ahead-so I think he was recently in europe. He makes a decent living but his clothes suggest that he hasn't bought anything new in a while. He was thin-pale and cheeks sunken in which are signs of starvation. He makes money but he hasn't been eating much or bought new clothes in almost three years-you can tell by how faded and worn they are. Something had him paranoid."

"Paranoid?" Yagami watched him curiously.

"That's the obvious part-he was outside a famous detective agency. The Cigarette was to calm his nerves before explaining his situation to Ojisan. He didn't know that Ojisan is on an adultery case." Shinichi explained. Yagami considered everything that had been presented to him and obviously the source it had come from. Maybe Shinichi shouldn't have pointed all that out but he couldn't help himself-observations were fun.

"And you think his coworkers might know something?" Yagami finally asked. Shinichi rolled the thought around in his head.

"Yes." He finally decided on answering. "He was too scared to go to the grocery store or out to eat so he was probably reclusive. The business card suggests that he's the owner of InoTek Gaming systems. The employees should be able to tell us if he'd acted strangely in the past few days or perhaps when the reclusive behaviour started."

"It's as good a lead as any." Yagami conceded. "Though I do think that's information that you should have relayed to the police."

"It's okay." Shinichi waved it off. "If Officers Sato and Takagi are working the case then they'll catch up to us there." Probably within the first hour of their arrival if Takagi listened to Sato which he generally did.

"Now we just have to find out what could make a video game engineer so scared. Perhaps he has a criminal record-a lot of people that have committed crimes are now in hiding from Kira." Yagami offered. Shinichi shook his head.

"No, I thought about that but Kira hasn't been around long enough for that man's starvation to progress as far as it did. I think he probably lived on a diet of canned soups and had been doing so at least a year or two." He turned his attention back to the phone in search of something that might be useful. Apparently one of the employees had filed a lawsuit against Hanashi the company settled and the reason for the lawsuit was kept quiet. Considering this had happened three years ago it might very well have something to do with the case.

He closed the internet browser and hunted down the list of contacts until he found 'Kisaki Eri.' He heard Light asking who he was calling and held a finger up as Eri answered her phone.

"Hello?" Came the tones of Ran's mother and Shinichi had to fight to keep from shuddering. The woman still made him nervous.

"Hello? Eri-Obsan?" He turned up the cutesy act. "Can you look up a case for me?"

"Conan-kun?" Eri sounded skeptical, it wasn't often that Conan called her-she was probably far more used to Ran. Ran happened to the messenger for both her parents and Conan usually just tagged along.

"Mmhm! Ran-neechan's at Karate practice and Ojisan is on another case. But someone died outside the agency and I think it might have something to do with a lawsuit filed against InoTek Gaming Systems three years ago."

"I'll see what I can find." Eri offered, still sounding suspicious. Or maybe it was because of the weird allergy he seemed to have when it came to Ran's mother.

"Th-Thank you!" He stammered before clicking the phone off. Yagami was staring at him, irritated that he'd been given the 'just a moment' signal and left out of the loop. Shinichi supposed it came from the fact that he'd convinced Yagami he should solve the case. Maybe he'd caught on that Shinichi only wanted to solve the case himself.

"What's this about a lawsuit? If you want me to solve this for you, you're going to have to keep me informed." Yagami's voice had an edge to it that suggested that maybe he was starting to get a little annoyed. The way he'd worded the statement was concerning. He'd definitely realised that Shinichi wanted to solve the case on his own-or maybe he was just annoyed that Shinichi now had a head start.

"Hanashi was sued for something. It doesn't say what it was but one of the employees sued him. The case was settled under the condition that it was kept quiet. It was obviously an internal affair of some kind that no one wanted leaking. So it's probably a stolen project or-"

"Or?" Yagami encouraged.

"A sexual assault charge." Shinichi stated, thinking over the facts he had so far. So far the conclusion he'd drawn from the various articles he'd read on his phone was that Hanashi Ryosuke was a creep of the worst variety. Sexual Assault was looking a lot more likely. He was in the middle of reading an article about how the female turnover rate was triple that of the male and apparently females were more likely to get hired. It was probably just gossip. Message boards were teaming with it but they always held kernels of the truth which made them indispensable.

He let Yagami read the new pieces of information and turned his own attention to wondering if maybe it was just a coincidence it happened to be video game engineer-if this had been going on since three years ago it was unlikely the parties he feared had a hand in it. Unlikely, unfortunately, did not mean impossible. He pressed his fingertips together and sat back in his seat, waiting on the next stop.

"Something doesn't fit." Yagami voiced at the same time the same thought nagged at Shinichi's mind. He looked up at his temporary guardian waiting on him to elaborate. "You stated that Hanashi-san was likely a recluse and suffered from an extreme paranoia. Why would someone like that leave the country and return?"

Yagami had a point. It didn't make sense. And now that he was thinking about it-the watch didn't make sense either-it was new. They'd decided that based on his appearance he hadn't bought anything new in a while so why did the victim have a watch set to a different time?


	3. Improbable

( Disclaimer: I still don't own either Death Note or Detective Conan... Or Magic Kaito. )

Light awoke to his hand being shaken by an enthusiastic police detective and a small round of applause. A quick glance around the room and he noticed that a woman-one of the suspects-was being led away in cuffs. The murder had been solved then. He felt someone clap him on the back, saying something about a job well done. He realised then that the applause was meant for him. He turned to the police detective Takagi who was still shaking his hand. What happened? And why didn't he remember falling asleep-had he passed out?

"Thank you for helping us to solve this case, Yagami-kun. It was a pleasure working with you. I never would have thought that Kaiya-san was really the sister of that poor girl."

"A-Aa.." What was he saying? That Kaiya-san had a sister? The girl being led away? His head felt fuzzy and all this attention was making it worse. "Yes, course. Will you excuse me?" He gently pulled away from the gaggle of people that were impressed with him-did they think he solved the case? Light knew for a fact he hadn't-just as soon as he thought he had a clear idea of what had happened he'd felt a sharp prick at the back of his neck and the next thing he knew he was being congratulated on a job well done. Perhaps he could ask Ryuk about it later.

He headed for the door but stopped just as he remembered something. Where was the kid that convinced him to come here? Did he have anything to do with this? Was is normal for that child to disappear without warning? He let out an irritated sigh and moved back over to the police detectives.

"You haven't seen Conan-kun have you?" He asked, glancing around the room just incase he'd somehow just missed him the first time around. Takagi frowned and looked over at his partner who shook her head.

"I wouldn't worry about it-Conan-kun often disappears like this. Although he usually resurfaces after the case has been solved." Takagi offered, completely unhelpful. Light was irritated. He was left in charge of a seven year old. He was warned that said seven year old was far too smart for his own good and to keep a constant eye on him. That little brat had something to do with why he fell asleep-there was no other explanation.

"Thank you." Light bowed his head slightly and resigned himself to this ridiculous game of hide and seek. He couldn't very well return to the agency without Conan in tow. Yagami Light was not about to get bested by a seven year old brat.

"Ah! We'll need you to stop by the station later to give a statement!" The female officer-Sato he believed her name was called after him. he waved his hand to show that he had heard. He'd take care of the statement as soon as he found his escaped charge. He slid into an empty hallway and after a quick look around for cameras let out the exasperated sigh he'd been holding in since that morning.

"Ryuk." Light's eyes snapped to the Shinigami floating nearby. "What happened." He demanded of the death god. Ryuk shrugged and Light was concerned that perhaps telling him would be him choosing a side. The only way to get him to reveal what he knew was if it was somehow amusing to the shinigami as Light didn't currently have any apples to bribe him with.

"You solved the murder." Ryuk chuckled. "You suddenly slouched over and revealed the whole thing-it was pretty impressive."

"I didn't reveal anything." Light stated, now more annoyed than irritated. "I was asleep. Did you see where Conan went?"

"No. I wasn't paying attention to him." Ryuk admitted much to Light's displeasure. What a useless Shinigami. So Edogawa Conan used him to solve the murder and now he was missing. He couldn't have too much of a head start. He stopped-hand grazing the wall. What was he thinking? Conan couldn't have had anything to do with his solving the case in his sleep-the police would have noticed the voice was different. But what other explanation was there?

He did find it a bit strange that after all the trouble Conan had gone through to convince him to solve the murder that he up and disappeared right before the reveal. Had something happened to him? Deciding that he couldn't take the chance Light pulled out the list of contact numbers he had been given, hoping that Conan's cellphone number was among them.

He heard a door snap closed down the hall and looked up just in time to see Conan step out. For a moment he stood there and seemed to be frozen to the spot. Light couldn't see his face but the stance alone was indication that he wasn't happy about something.

"Conan-kun." Light stored his phone back in his pocket and moved over to the boy. Conan looked up at him with a bright and cheery expression but something about it seemed off. "Where have you been?"

"Oh. I was just exploring." He looked off to the side. "Did you solve the murder?" Light's eyes narrowed. The only person that could have solved the crime was Conan and yet if he had been exploring as he claimed then Conan couldn't have solved the murder. So either he was missing something important or Conan was a liar. And right now liar seemed a lot more likely.

"Yeah. They're taking her into custody now." Light told the child who nodded in approval. "But you shouldn't run off like that, I'm supposed to be watching you."

"Oh… I'm sorry." He at least looked apologetic. "But I'm back now! And I didn't get hurt or anything, so that's good, right?" Light was about to tell him that no it wasn't good and that he should know better, but the look on the kid's face told him he wasn't trying to pull anything over on him, there was genuine honesty there. Light just sighed and waved the whole matter off.

"...Right. Listen, we've got to head down to the station to give statements and I have to take you with me. Please don't run off again." Or he might get really annoyed. Conan noded and started off towards the exit. Light let out another sigh. Dealing with this child was a lot more trouble than he'd first given it credit for.

oooOOOOooo

The entire ride over to the station Light couldn't help but keep glancing at Conan-he was sure that Conan was the reason the case was solved just as he was sure that he'd used him as a puppet to solve it but how? It didn't seem possible and yet it was the only explanation. But if Conan were capable of solving the murder why not take the credit himself? It didn't make sense. He started to turn to the window but noticed Conan seemed to have frozen over again-he was clenching his fists tightly together and sweat was beading on his forehead.

"..Conan-kun?" He tested but Conan remained unresponsive. What was wrong with this kid? "Conan?" He tried again. This time Conan sprang back to life and looked up at Light-his face was pale.

"Mm?" Bright innocent eyes blinked at up at him. There was no way this child had knocked him out solved the murder.

"You had a pretty serious expression on your face." Light told him. He didn't bother asking what it was-if Conan wanted to tell him he would. That's how children worked.

"O-oh." Conan turned his attention to the window and Light took it to mean that he did not want to talk about it. Which suited him just fine leaving the rest of the their journey quiet.

"Would you mind waiting down in the lobby?" Sato asked Light as she led them into the station. "There's an important meeting going on upstairs and we can't let anyone past the stairwell right now."

"That's fine, I understand." He nodded to the woman and watched as she headed off to collect some things so she could get their statements. Light looked around the room again and located a chair to sit on while Conan moved off to talk to the receptionist and then officer that came down to ground level shortly after. As long as he stayed within sight Light didn't care who he talked to. He just didn't want to have go find the kid again.

Besides, it gave Light time to think about what had happened earlier and if he really did suspect that Conan had anything to do with it. Right now Conan didn't appear to be anything but an overly excited seven year old but on the loopline he'd something else-he'd seen him go from sugary sweet to cold and calculating while they discussed the deceased man's lifestyle and habits. The Conan that he'd seen on the loopline was perfectly capable of drugging him and using him as mouthpiece for his deductions. Was he trying to hide that he was perfectly capable of-

"-No consideration for others. It's A. _Charity._ Ball. Who steals from a charity ball?"

"Maybe he thought you shouldn't feature it at your events if you didn't want it stolen."

Light looked up as he heard a vaguely familiar set of voices. What a coincidence. If memory served the two were just a year younger than him. And if memory served things seemed to be about the same between them-bickering about every little thing and always on opposing sides and yet somehow extremely close. Did he want to get involved and roped into their debate? He hadn't seen either in about eight years now.

He watched them carefully-taking note of how both of them had changed. She was pretty much the same-same round face and same skirt and tennis shoes fashionsense. He was just as unruly as Light remembered seeing him. Just before the stage accident that claimed Kuroba Toichi's life. It had put a screeching halt to their... friendship.

"Yagami-kun!" The female of the two brightened immediately upon seeing him. Light repressed a sigh that he'd been spotted and got up to greet the two.

"Aoko-chan." He offered her a smile. "It's been awhile-you're looking well."

"She's not well." The boy stated. "She's actually pissed because Kid sent another notice to her dad."

"He's insane!" Aoko turned to tell Kaito. "It's like he's got a death wish or something. And stealing from a charity ball! Disgraceful!" Light could tell Aoko was very passionate about her dislike for the Kaitou Kid. Good, it seemed her sense of justice hadn't changed either. Kuroba seemed like he was just amused with her anger.

"Well Kaito-kun, I have to say I agree with Aoko-chan, she has every right to be angry. Targeting a charity event is a special kind of low." Light took Aoko's side, as would probably be expected of him.

"Thank you!" Aoko nodded in approval, glad he'd taken her side. Kaito rolled his eyes.

"Calm down team justice. It's probably just his way of telling the officers he's still alive. There have been a lot of criminals dropping dead lately."

"Well I was fine with thinking he was dead." Aoko said defiantely. She didn't mean that, Light could tell by her tone and the way she turned her chin up at Kaito that she was just being contrary.

"Besides, Kid's never hurt anyone. He doesn't exactly fit Kira's victim profile." Kaito shrugged. "I think he'll be fine as long as he continues to avoid hurting people. Or mock Kira on public television."

"He's too popular worldwide for Kira to touch." Light shrugged. "Kira wants to be accepted by the general public-killing the Kaitou Kid would only hurt his own popularity. Besides, Kid has been known to unearth far worse criminals so even if he is annoying he does do the community some good." Aoko groaned and rolled her eyes. She may not have liked it but that's how it stood. Besides, he had no idea who the Kaitou Kid was which made the idea of killing him to set as an example difficult. He'd continue to let him live.

For now.

"You sound like you've given this a lot of thought, Yagami." Kaito raised an eyebrow.

"That's to be expected." Aoko waved it off. "Yagami-kun's dad is head of violent crimes, right? So he's probably interested in the Kira case."

"It's true, I am." Light admitted, sounding sheepish. "So, what brought you two here?" He decided to ask, watching them both.

"Bringing dad a spare set of clothes. Somehow, Kid's notice was pinned to his dry cleaning this morning. I guess that means I need to find a new dry cleaner." Aoko huffed. Kaito chuckled. He definitely found her irritation amusing.

"That seems a little extreme Ahoko. He was probably just there for the day." Kaito pointed out. Aoko closed her eyes and then rounded on him.

"If he knows which dry cleaning service Aoko uses then that means he's stalking me! That's creepy!" Light had to admit she had a point. He obviously hadn't touched her though or she would have reported it. Aoko wasn't the type of girl that stayed silent if someone was doing something wrong. He remembered she was always tattling on Kaito.

"You still have to pick up your dress for that event-or you just going to leave it there?" Kaito was still teasing her.

"Oh, you're going to the charity ball?" Light turned her attention back to him. Aoko nodded, no doubt contemplating what she wanted to do about that dress.

"Mm. Daddy got Kaito and me tickets but he has to work." Kaito grinned sheepishly.

"Can't let my boss throw out his back again."

"But, do you want to come?" Aoko offered. "It'll be fun to catch up."

Light considered refusing, he could easily tell her he had to study and knowing her she'd understand. She really hadn't changed much. Her encouraging little smile was making him uneasy and he didn't like that Kaito was watching him. If Kuroba was jealous he should have accepted the invitation he'd been given by Nakamori.

"Would I need to wear something formal?" He felt the words leaving his mouth. Aoko gave him a happy little nod. Perhaps it would be good for him to take a break from all the Kira Vs. L talk that seemed dominate the media. Escorting Aoko on a date might even help the illusion that he was a perfectly normal high school student.


	4. Deadline

"-And that's when I knew the murderer couldn't be anyone other than Kaiya-san." Kudou Shinichi finished off his deduction in the voice of Yagami Light. He pulled the bow tie away from his mouth and let out a small sigh. The murder was solved but he had another matter to attend to-the meaning behind that watch. He slid away from the wall currently concealing him as the applause broke out and moved directly for the door leading to a hallway and made his way to the the parking garage.

The watch had been meant as a message to him. The time on face of the watch was a meeting time and Shinichi had no intention of being late. He'd left it out of his deductions-he couldn't have the police sniffing around it and accidentally stumbling across the organisation that destroyed his life. He slid into the cool basement and moved wordlessly along the isles of parked cars. The message wasn't too specific about where they'd meet so Shinichi assumed that one of these cars would look familiar. He glanced around again, trying not to think about the constant dripping coming from a nearby pipe. His nerves were frayed enough as it is and the constant dripping wasn't helping.

He ventured farther into the garage wondering just how long he had before Yagami woke up and how long it would take him to realise Conan was missing. Being a first time sleeping detective meant that Yagami would likely suffer a bit of confusion when the police inevitably thanked him for his service. He'd have no choice but to take the credit. From what Shinichi had seen, Yagami was fairly intelligent and if they'd had more time Shinichi would have just led Yagami to the right clues and let him solve the case.

Unfortunately, Shinichi didn't have the time to evaluate just how sharp Yagami was, he was on a tight schedule. From what he'd gathered though-he should probably avoid using Yagami as the sleeping detective more than once.

"Tsk, tsk… you're about five minutes late." A voice purred in the dark.

He heard soft 'Click!' of a lighter and a spun around to see the small orange glow indicating the tip of a cigarette. He took a breath to calm his nerves, shoved his hands in his pockets and ventured towards it.

"I had to wrap up the case you staged." Shinichi responded, keeping a respectful distance between him and the platinum blonde that had arranged the meeting. Her lips quirked upwards into a small smirk and she released a long stream of smoke.

"She wanted him to take his own life after what he did. I merely convinced her to take matters into her own hands." The woman shrugged. Shinichi's eyes narrowed.

"You didn't have to turn her into a murderer to get my attention, Vermouth." Vermouth chuckled slightly and took another long drag on her cigarette. Evidently, she did not feel bad for convincing someone to commit murder.

"I have another case for you." She let out another puff of smoke and Shinichi stared at her, immediately suspicious of this case. She was perfectly capable of solving murder cases-he'd seen her do it. So what kind of case would require an assassin from the black organisation to come to him for help? One she couldn't touch, obviously. But the only thing that came immediately to mind was-

"Kira?"

"Bingo." Vermouth purred, watching him closely. "My boss is very interested in this case. Of course we have several operatives already investigating but I think with the right incentive…" Shinichi felt his shoulders tense. Incentive. What ever she wanted he didn't have a choice.

"You want me to find him?" he asked the ground, trying to keep his tone cool and confident. He knew exactly what the organisation would do to Kira the moment they had him. It wasn't something he would wish on him. "You think I'm more capable than L?"

"I think that you will have far more conviction than he does once you have the right incentive." She put the cigarette to her lips again, watching him dissect each and every word that came out of her mouth.

"I'm not working for the Organization." Shinichi spat venomously, angry she'd even ask. No way in Hell was he about to work for the people that destroyed his life and countless others.

"Aa, so you'd rather Kira take us all out then? All of us?" She took another long drag on her cigarette and then knocked on the door of the car she was leaning against. Shinichi felt his teeth gritting together getting the message loud and clear. Kir would get swept up in everything and he couldn't be sure that Kira would show leniency to a NOC. Or a CIA agent. How many other NOCs were in the organization? She was holding them all hostage.

"Does your boss know you're here? Or is this you trying to save your own skin?" Shinichi asked, eyes narrowed and she just let out another purr-like-chuckle. She was here of her own violation. "What if I still refuse?" He tested. She just gave him an amused sounding 'hm' and turned to go.

"Do you want to take that chance?" Shinichi knew better than to challenge her any more than he already had. She could hold both his and Haibara's true identities over his head. He really didn't want to think about what Gin would do if he found Kudou Shinichi was still alive and helping the missing traitor Sherry. Five months to find Kira. It was either turn Kira over to Vermouth and Organisation as a whole or-or- He hated himself for even considering it but- turn the organisation over to Kira and hope that he didn't just kill everyone in it-even Shinichi knew that was beyond optimistic.

He looked up but Vermouth had gone. He took a shaky breath and played everything over again in his head while he trudged back into the hallway feeling ten times heavier than he had earlier that day.

Five months to find Kira, could he do it?

"-Nan-kun." The sound of his Conan's name snapped Shinichi back to the situation at hand and he quickly summoned up a cheerful smile. "Where have you been?" Yagami approached him.

"Oh…" He started, trying to think of something to say. "I was just exploring. Did you solve the murder?" He opted to change the subject. Yagami was looking him over carefully, Shinichi could see the suspicion in his eyes but he kept his expression as cheerful as he could manage at the moment.

"Yeah…" Yagami stated, eyes still locked on him. "They're taking her into custody now. But you shouldn't run off like that. I'm supposed to be watching you."

"Oh...I'm sorry." Shinichi did his best to sound and look apologetic. "But I'm back now, and I didn't get hurt or anything, so that's good right?" Yagami's eyes narrowed but Shinichi kept Conan's expression as innocent and genuine as he could manage. It worked, Yagami sighed seemed to deflate a little.

"Right. Listen, we have to go down to the station to give our statements and I have to take you with me. Please don't run off again." Yagami requested. Shinichi nodded and in true seven year old fashion raced off down the hall.

Once they were in the squad car that was to take them over to the station and Yagami was focused on the window Shinichi let himself slip into his own thoughts. Specifically what Vermouth planned to do if in five months he couldn't find Kira. If it was legitimately that he just couldn't find him would she give him extra time? She couldn't suspect he might turn on her-he spent his life trying to do the right thing-it was the advantage he held over her.

However, which ever option he went with he knew it wouldn't be the right thing. No matter what he chose someone would die and there'd be blood on his hands. This also meant that he was going to have try and keep Kira from getting caught-the organisation would swoop in the moment they had a chance, and he was sure what the boss wanted wasn't Kira himself but his weapon. The idea of the organisation getting ahold of something like that-His fists clenched.

"-Conan?" Again, his attention snapped to Yagami.

"Hm?" He blinked up at his current babysitter. Yagami was looking him over carefully again.

"You had a pretty serious expression on your face." The older boy pointed out. Shinichi wasn't sure what to say to that. He was sure it was true but he didn't really have an excuse on hand that Yagami might believe.

"...Oh." He said uselessly. Yagami watched him for another minute before turning his attention to the window again. Shinichi was glad he didn't press the matter but then Yagami didn't really seem the type. Once the attention was off him again, Shinichi shut his eyes and sat back in the chair trying to relax. He'd-He'd call Hattori later. He'd get him to come down from Osaka and maybe they could work out a better plan amongst the two of them.

"Aa! Conan-kun!" One of the receptionist greeted once he'd walked into the station with Yagami. Sato was telling him something about no one being allowed past the stairwell but he wasn't really paying attention. While Light moved to sit down and wait on Sato to return, Conan went to talk to the receptionist.

"Hello Seiichi-oniisan!" He greeted cheerily. "What's up?"

"Important police business, I'm afraid. I can't tell you." Seiichi informed him, pushing his glasses up in a very official manner. He tried to withhold information but Shinichi was generally pretty good about weaseling it out of him.

"That's okay, I can probably guess what it is." He shrugged. Seiichi sighed, no doubt he had every faith Conan could guess what it was.

"Well, It's not that difficult to figure out I suppose, but don't tell anyone, alright?" Seiichi didn't say anything out loud but his attitude and the words he used told Shinichi it had something to do with Kira. He was going to have to find someway to sit in on those meetings.

"Mm! I promise!" Shinichi nodded.

"But this is new, I wasn't aware you knew Yagami-kun." Seiichi stated, looking over to where Light was seated. Shinichi glanced over that direction as well. Yagami was a police brat so it wasn't that strange that the receptionist. That didn't mean that a bit of background information on the guy could hurt.

"I just met him today. He's watching me while Ojisan and Ran-neechan are out." He shrugged. "He's okay."

"Yagami-kun's really smart-I bet he'd give Kudou-kun a run for his money."

'Doubtful' Shinichi thought. "Really? I guess... But he couldn't play deductions with me." He pretended to pout. Seiichi chuckled, muttering something about how not too many people could.

"But his midterms were higher than anyone else's in the region. Everyone's really impressed with him." The receptionist went on to say.

"Oh?" For the sake of the conversation Shinichi tried to appear interested-inside he just wasn't concerned about a test. From what Shinichi had seen of Yagami so far he was under the impression he was just constantly bored. He'd sympathise if hadn't decided to become a detective. His attention was snagged yet again by an officer coming down to the lobby-apparently the elevator was broken because Chiba usually preferred it over the stairs. He hopped down from the receptionist desk and made his way over to the junior police detective.

The information he gained from the officer mostly matched exactly what he already knew-no one was allowed past the first floor while a Kira meeting was in progress without special permission. He was able to find out that the whole police department was in shambles over the Kira case-some departments were being stuck with cases they didn't usually handle-Second Division was now handling homicides not deemed a Kira case on top of the usual white collar thefts and First division was handling the violent serial crimes Cheif Yagami usually handled as they needed all hands on deck for the Kira case.

"Sure wish we could get ahold of Kudou-kun for this. He could loan him out to violent crimes." Chiba sighed. Shinichi felt a stab of guilt-if the black organisation hadn't force-fed him that poison then he'd probably be one of those allowed special access.

"At-at least L-san is working the case?" He offered. Chiba sighed and shook his head.

"Yeah, but right now not a lot of people on the force trust L. We just need to get someone the department trusts to make headway on the case . So what brings you to the station? I would have thought business would be slow at the agency with crime rate dropping."

"You'd think so but it's actually been kind of busy." Shinichi stated, apparently Kira had brought forth a whole new kind of client ten times as desperate as what usually turned up at the agency.

"I guess no one wants to get charged with a crime." Chiba stated sheepishly. "Where is Mouri-san anyway?"

"He had an adultery case. So he left Light-niichan in charge." Shinichi glanced back over to his supposed babysitter to see he was still in the exact same place. "There was a murder outside the agency though…" He stated. "Ne Chiba-keiji-has anyone from different prefectures sat on the Kira meetings?"

Chiba consider the question, he was well aware he shouldn't answer any questions about that particular case but Conan had enough clout among the officers he could usually get them to tell him a few things.

"Well, there's the new superintendent of course, and I think there have been several transfers but everything's kind of a mess right now. Why do you ask?" Shinichi wasn't paying too much attention to what Chiba said after that, his mind flashing back to what Vermouth had said about how they were already investigating. The organization already had people sitting in on Kira meetings.


	5. Charity

Once again Light was wondering how he'd gotten roped into doing something he didn't really want to do. That being attend a charity event the infamous Kaitou Kid would be appearing at. He might have more interest in going if he were at a point in his global cleansing that he could actually do away with the thief but right now he was intangible even to Kira. He adjusted the tie he was wearing to make sure that his appearance was as pristine and neat as ever before knocking on the door to the Nakamori household. It didn't look anything like the old house but he supposed Nakamori Ginzo wouldn't want anything that even remotely reminded him of his lost wife.

It wasn't Aoko that answered the door but Kuroba. He never cared much for Kuroba. He pulled the door open and let Light in. He was under the impression that Kuroba had turned down the invitation because of work. Was the real reason because he just didn't want to go? His eyes narrowed and Kuroba gave him a look, holding his hands up in defeat.

"Don't look at me like that. I just wanted to make sure Ahoko didn't look too much like an overgrown five year old." Kuroba sounded as nonchalant as possible but there was a definite jealous edge in his voice that he was trying to keep hidden. Too bad for him Light prided himself on his ability to read people and situations. And the situation said that Kuroba was being unnecessarily assertive.

Light briefly considered saying something to him about how lucky Aoko was to have a friend that cared so much about her appearance but he had no intention of starting anything with Kuroba and didn't want him to see him as a threat.

"Want anything to drink?" Kuroba offered, trying to seem friendly. Light glanced at his watch. What he wanted, was for Aoko to hurry up so they could get this over with and he could go home.

"No thank you, Kuroba-kun. I'd hate to be late." Light responded, trying to sound as polite as possible.

"I think you have time for a drink." Apparently, What Light said had been taken as a challenge and he fought the urge to roll his eyes at the overly possessive magician.

"I'm not thirsty." Light shrugged it off like he hadn't even noticed how offended the magician sounded. More than likely he wanted to show he knew where everything was in this house because of the close relationship he had with Aoko. A relationship Light cared nothing about. He was wasting his breath. Kira had no need of Nakamori Aoko so neither did Light. Although, if Kuroba continued to be needlessly assertive he might feel the need to be needlessly assertive right back.

"Are you two arguing?" Aoko had emerged from her room in a simple light blue, knee-length dress. She wasn't wearing any kind of makeup but her hair was done up in butterfly clips. She didn't look anything like a five year old. She looked like a presentable date.

"Of course not, Ahoko. I was friendly." Friendly. Light's gaze shot towards the magician. If you called being overly possessive and back handed friendly then he supposed that yes, Kuroba had been very friendly.

"He was just offering me something to drink." Light stated, shrugging it off and offering his hand out to his date for the evening. She took it. He could almost feel Kuroba bristle. "You look lovely." He stated as would be expected of him, as her date to the evening's event. Her cheeks flushed red and she nervously tried to straighten her skirt. Cute.

"Th-thank you." She stammered, not meeting his eyes. "You look nice too." She wasn't good at this, he could tell by how stiff she was and how she had no idea how to keep their conversation going. He could hear Ryuk chuckling over how awkward she was. This night was going to be more uncomfortable than he'd originally thought. And he'd pegged the night for uncomfortable a long time ago.

"It's alright Aoko-chan, no need to be nervous. We're friends, remember?" He coaxed her in attempts to pacify Kuroba who was watching them like a jealous boyfriend. Aoko looked at the ground again, cheeks turning redder and he gently pulled her towards him and then to the door. "See you later, Kuroba-kun."

oooOOOoooOOOooo

The only reason Shinichi had bothered to come to Kid's heist was that he needed the distraction from the very serious ultimatum he'd been given. He'd since ventured away from Ran and the others and was shuffling along the sides of the extravagant ballroom and tried to avoid bumping into people or-as was much more likely in his case-getting stepped on. Not too many people hung around the walls and most of them were cops and on the lookout for suspicious activity anyway. As if they would recognise if Kaitou Kid were acting suspiciously.

For the time being, he assumed that Kid was probably mixed in somewhere in the crowd waiting to strike at the indicated time. He was probably disguised as someone that had clearance to get close enough to the display case to check and make sure Jirokichi was displaying the real Emperor's Emerald. Which didn't narrow the list of suspects too much but enough that searching them all didn't seem nearly as daunting as searching each guest individually. He let out a sigh and leaned against the wall. It wasn't anything Ran would consider polite but at the moment he didn't care.

"Conan-kun!" An overly cheerful voice sounded beside him. He repressed the urge to roll his eyes and looked the culprit right in the face. She was grinning at him with that one crooked tooth of hers. It made him uncomfortable.

"S-Sera-neechan. What's up?" He asked as she continued to grin at him.

"Have you found him yet?" She asked, turning her attention to the crowds. "I'm thinking he's probably disguised as-"

"No." Shinichi cut her off. "I haven't yet, but I'm sure he'll show up later. Wonder what he's got planned." Sera stood up and leaned against the wall as well, keeping her index finger on chin in the same manner Shinichi usually did when he was thinking.

"Have you been up to the display case? I bet he's got it rigged." Sera stated, looking at the task force officers currently guarding it. Shinichi noticed that they all had one particularly red cheek. Nakamori must have checked them for masks.

"Not yet. I don't think I have the clearance to get that close." He did, he just had other things to think about right now. Like the black organisation. Sera sighed, seemingly believing his lie and Shinichi turned his attention towards the entrance just in time to see the new superintendent. His heart stopped. What was he doing here? He cast a nervous look up at Sera but she hadn't seemed to notice.

Was the organisation after Kid? Did they know he helped their missing traitor escape the bell tree express? No. Calm down Kudou. He closed his eyes, trying to force his heart rate back to normal. They couldn't have possibly have seen through that. But… Vermouth knew. Part of the plan involved Vermouth thinking she had stopped their trump card. She would have found out by now that Kid was the trump card all along. Had she told someone? As an insurance that Shinichi would cooperate?

"Conan-kun, you feel okay?" Sera asked, kneeling down next to him and pressing a hand to his forehead. "You're kinda clammy."

"I-I'm fine." Shinichi quickly rattled off. "I'm going to go see if they have juice." He gave a nervous laugh and hurried into the middle of the crowd. He needed to keep some kind of surveillance on Kuroda. He hadn't yet been able to confirm if he was or wasn't Rum but he couldn't take the chance.

"-Oof!" He accidentally plowed right into a pair of legs and looked up to see Yagami Light. What was he doing here?

"Conan-kun, I suppose it isn't a surprise to see you here." He offered out a hand and helped the smaller back to his feet. Shinichi just looked him over curiously. Where had he even come from? He glanced to the side and saw a girl sitting at one of the tables in a blue dress with an empty chair beside her. Had he gotten up from there? It didn't matter and he turned his attention back to locating Kuroda. He didn't say anything to Yagami and dashed back into the crowd.

Light let out a sigh and watched him go. That kid was on a mission. Strange child. He let the thought pass out of his head and continued to what he had been doing-getting drinks for him and Aoko. He returned to their table within minutes and handed her the crystal clear wine glass filled with grape juice. She took it carefully, regarding it like it might shatter or like it was worth more than school tuition. Light doubted if it was.

"Thank you." She said cheerfully as he sat back down. He nodded glanced over at the display being closely guarded. It seemed impossible anyone could steal the emerald as it was but the news would have you believe the impossible was exactly what Kaitou Kid was capable. "Sleeping gas or Blackout." Aoko blurted, snapping Light's attention back to her.

"Huh?" The sound tumbled elegantly out of his mouth. Aoko shrugged.

"It's how he usually gets passed Daddy's and Jirokichi-san's guards." She pointed to officers in question and Light's gaze followed. "You can see where he pinched their cheeks. You can get closer if you want, but you'd have to be Kid-checked first."

"Doesn't your word that I'm not Kid mean anything to them?"

"No." She answered bluntly. "No one knows who the Kaitou Kid is, remember? For all I know, you could be." She flashed him a vaguely mischievous smile. She'd been around Kuroba for too long.

"-Aa, But Aoko-kun, if he were Kid that would greatly impair my deduction on who Kaitou Kid really is." A smooth, and confident voice interrupted.

"Hakuba-kun!" Aoko stated, smiling brightly at the newcomer. He was blonde-clearly half-japanese and wearing a brown suit. "Light-kun, this is Hakuba Saguru-kun, he sometimes works with my dad to catch Kid and he goes to the same school I do."

"A pleasure, Hakuba-kun." Light offered trying not to sound bored.

"The pleasure is mine." Hakuba nodded his head politely.

"Hakuba-kun, This is Yagami Light-his dad is head of the violent crimes division." Aoko finished up her introductions. Hakuba glanced over at the display case, around the room and back to Aoko.

"I don't mean to be rude, but Aoko-kun, have you seen Kuroba-kun?" Hakuba asked. Light raised an eyebrow and Aoko just sighed.

"He's at work." She stated. "So Light-kun is the one that accompanied me here." Hakuba sighed, not really listening and glanced around again. He mumbled something about the magician Light didn't quite catch and abruptly cleared his throat.

"Well Yagami-san, I must admit, I'm quite envious that you were able to escort Aoko-kun tonight and not myself." Hakuba ran a hand through his bangs. Unsure of how exactly one was to respond to that, Light turned his attention to Aoko. So Hakuba and Kuroba both had a thing for her and she was oblivious. He'd roll his eyes at the soap opera set up but he was supposed to be being nice.

"If you'll both excuse me, I need to speak with Nakamori-keibu." He bowed and headed off, Aoko waved him away cheerily and wished him luck.

"You haven't changed a bit." Light stated, amused as he took a sip from his glass. Aoko looked over at him, and he just offered her a fake smile. "Always cheering people on to do the right thing and telling people off if they're doing something wrong." He clarified.

"Of course!" Aoko stated stubbornly. "If you try to get away with something now you might try to get away with more in the future. Aoko has to make sure that doesn't happen." She'd turned her nose up at him but deflated rather quickly. "But at least I don't have to worry about you, I heard you want to be a police detective. Daddy and I both think that's great."

Her smile was a lot warmer than Light had been prepared for. She almost seemed to glow with how cheerfully encouraging she was. It was probably the reason both boys liked her. He offered her another fake smile appreciation and took a sip from his wine glass. "Thank you, it's good to have your encouragement. So what have you been up to? Besides cheering your dad on, of course."

"I'm going to be a third year in April-tied for top of the class with Kaito and Hakuba-kun though." She shrugged as though it weren't that big of deal. Light wouldn't have pegged her for top of her class. She was impulsive and-well he'd thought she was immature but now he supposed not. "It's nice getting to catch up, huh?" Aoko gave him a nervous little laugh and Light offered her another smile.

"Would you like some more juice?" He held his hand out for her empty glass. Aoko nodded and started to hand her glass to him-however just as his fingers felt the cool glass the lights flickered and died. Aoko had stated something about Kid liking to use power outages and just assumed it was probably showtime. He waited a few more seconds and the lights flickered back on.

The display case was empty aside from a note plastered to the inside of the glass. He couldn't read it from where he was standing but he could just make out the signature Kid insignia.


	6. Heist

The light's flickered back on to reveal the display case that had been so heavily guarded was now empty. The Kaitou Kid had struck leaving everyone in the room in a state of shock and awe which had likely been his intention. The Detectives in the room wasted no time moving directly over to the center of the room to begin their immediate investigation. The police had the area cordoned off, the display opened-proving to Kid's captive audience that it was still locked when emarald disappeared. The carpet underneath it had to be thoroughly examined. Somewhere there was evidence that a trick had been pulled. For a detective, that was the equivalent of blood in the water for a shark. The proceedings slammed to a halt though when two of the three were unfamiliar with each other.

"Aa Edogawa-kun, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised to see you. Rumours abroad speak very highly of your skills." Hakuba stated, eying the smaller before he turned to painfully american detective. "And you've brought a...friend." Shinichi rolled his eyes. This had the potential of going worse than how the introduction to Hattori had gone.

"Th-this is Sera Masumi-neechan." He introduced before Sera could respond. "She's also a detective." Hakuba was looking her up and down and Sera was doing the same to him. "Sera-neesan, this is Hakuba Saguru. He's also a detective."

"Yes, before Edogawa-kun I was the closest to catching Kid." Hakuba stated with a fake wistful sigh.

"Nice to meet you!" Sera stated cheerfully, grinning with that crooked tooth and overly forward nature of hers. Hakuba didn't seem at all impressed. Shinichi tore his attention from the british and american detective and turned it towards the display case. Once Hakuba had begrudgingly accepted the idea of working with Sera, he and she set about assisting Conan in his investigation.

It had been guarded on all four sides-glass was bullet proof (not that Kid ever used real bullets. The real Kid anyway) -The display was bolted to the ground-the only way into the case would have been-oh. All three detectives came to the same realisation at once and turned eyes on the task force.

"If he gets away, it's our fault for letting him pull such a stupid trick on us." Shinichi stated flatly, the other two agreeing with a monotoned 'Aa.' Hakuba approached the display case and pulled the now unlocked door open. He bravely stuck his hand in and ran across the top of the display case followed by the sides and then the bottom.

"I found the real bottom." He stated lazily before sticking his hand in a lip he found indicating a trap door built into the display. The Emerald must have been rigged to drop down into the small waiting hole and once the case was unlocked and opened all the Kid would have to do is collect it. "Who had the key to the case?"

"The first guy to approach it." Sera supplied 'helpfully.' with a cheerful chirp. "Was that him?"

"Kid did't have the key-that'd be too obvious a trick for his style." Hakuba pointed out, shutting the display case.

"It _was_ an obvious trick, and we fell for it." Shinichi stated bitterly. "It's our fault for not realising immediately what he was up to." None of them were feeling particularly bright at the moment. It was punishment for expecting something complex and they all knew it.

"Well… I guess we should try to find him…" Sera suggested.

oooOOOooo

It was only the first heist that Light had ever attended and he had to say-he was not impressed. These were very text book magician tactics the police were facing and yet they seemed unable to grasp that concept. He heard Aoko let out a wistful sigh when the display was revealed to be empty. Considering Kid's track record she really should have expected as much.

He looked around the room, watching the task force mill about the now crime scene and the obviously disguised policemen were all reporting into ear pieces. His attention snapped to the display case that Conan, Aoko's friend Hakuba and some other guy were standing near the front of. He watched the three of them conversing and Hakuba and the other guy moved away, leaving Conan by himself.

"Aoko-chan." He stated suddenly, causing her to look up from her dead stare into the abyss. "I want to see If I can help find Kid. Would you mind?" He did not expect her response.

"Of course not!" She was immediately all smiles again. "Go and catch him! He needs to be brought to justice!" Maybe he should have expected her response, he grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet. She probably expected him to go off and leave her but that would make him look like a bad date. Appearance was everything.

He led them over to the center of the room where Conan was leaning against the display case surveying the entire room.

"Conan-kun." Light approached him. The serious expression that had been on his face melted away and was immediately replaced by the expression of child that seemingly could do no wrong. "What happened?" Conan just gave him a bewildered expression.

"You saw what happened Light-niichan." Light closed his eyes and pretended that Conan hadn't just answered him in a 'you're stating the obvious' kind of way.

"I meant do you know where Kid went?" He revised. Conan was looking at him suspiciously, eyes focused mostly on his face. It was a little discomforting and Light had to wonder if he did that on purpose.

"Oh." Conan's gaze shifted off to the side. "Well, we don't really know. Hakuba-no-niichan just told me to wait here until they get back." Amazing that he'd learned the art of stay still in less than a week. There had to be a reason he'd decided to listen.

"Why? I'm sure you're more than capable of keeping up." Light pressed, feeling a little unsettled as Conan's eyes narrowed at him a little. Why was this kid so unsettling?

"Because Conan-kun is Kaitou Kid's greatest adversary!" Aoko piped up from where she was standing behind him. Conan's gaze tore away from Light and moved to his date-surveying her as well.

"Oh-Um… I wouldn't say that exactly." He said sheepishly. "It's really just luck." He was pleased his genius was being acknowledged but he was obviously trying to act humble. A kid that liked to do things like Sherlock Holmes should be preening.

"But Kid already stole the emerald, so why did Hakuba-kun leave you here?" Aoko asked. She had a point-if the jewel was gone then why bother-

"Ow!" Light let out as someone had started pulling on his face. He back pedaled to get away-accidentally stepping on Aoko, knocking into her and knocking them both over. He hit the ground opposite her with a hard thump and Conan winced. It was Aoko's fault for standing so close.

"I-I'm sorry." he heard the child offering apologetically. "But I thought you might be Kid." He sounded so innocent and Light irritatedly got to his feet as people were starting to stare. He offered his hand to Aoko as the onlookers were no doubt expecting him to do and helped her to her small feet. How had he managed to step on them?

"Are you alright?" He asked, trying his best to sound concerned and not annoyed. Her hair was starting to fall down but she didn't look injured.

"I-I'm fine." Aoko stammered, dusting off her dress. That settled he turned back to Conan and tried to ignore the cackling Shinigami to his left. That was the last time he decided to be nice and kneel down to Conan's level. He was watching him uncertainly. He couldn't have known what that outcome would have been and the thought calmed Light. Slightly.

"Kid hasn't been close enough to get the jewel, has he?" Light asked bluntly. Conan was surveying him again but a buzzing from his right jacket pocket caught his attention and he pulled out his phone to check what Light assumed was a text message. He smirked and turned back to Light.

"Correct!" He said happily as he stored the phone back in his pocket. "That's why I'm guarding it. We couldn't find the man with the key or else we'd have just locked the display and reset the alarm."

"I'll go get the key from my dad." Aoko volunteered immediately, leaving Light alone with a child he really had no idea what to make of. Conan had watched Aoko leave but he didn't leave his post. Did he really think Kid would be back for the emerald now? Now that his trick had been revealed by a seven year old?

"Ne, Light-niichan." The deceptively innocent voice caught him off guard.

"Yes?" He tried not to sound suspicious. Conan didn't seem to notice because he motioned for Light to lean in closer. Oh no. He was not falling for that again. "What is it?" He pointedly did not lean in closer.

"I wanna ask you something." He stated with a slight pout. He didn't care.

"Then ask me." Light told him, still not leaning in.

"It's really important though. I don't want just anyone to hear.." Conan coaxed him. He… was intrigued. What could little Edogawa Conan have to tell him that was so important that he didn't want anyone to overhear? Curiosity getting the better of him, he leaned down so Conan could whisper his super important question in his ear.

"Do you know why the superintendent is here?" Whatever Light had expected Conan to ask him it certainly wasn't that. Was the superintendent there? He hadn't seem him but then it wasn't as if he'd necessarily been looking for him. Now that Conan had mentioned it he looked around for the man in question but still didn't see him. He'd met him before-he wasn't the kind of man whose face was easily got lost in a crowd-If Light was remembering correctly he had a large scar over his left eye.

"You mean Superintendent Matsumoto?" He bothered asking, just incase Conan was mistaken, though it was very unlikely. He was rewarded with that same irritating bewildered look.

"No. His replacement. Superintendent Kuroda Hyoue. Have you met him?" The question caught Light off guard. No he hadn't met the new superintendent. What had happened to the last one?

"Obviously not. Why do you ask?"

"that's him, over there talking to Nakamori-keibu. He looks pretty intense, wouldn't you say?" Conan directed Light's gaze over to the man in question. One lense of his glasses was tinted and the right half of his face covered in burns. Intense was an understatement. Light's attention then traveled to Nakamori who seemed to be telling Kuroda something he felt very strongly about-Aoko was standing behind him, waiting patiently for a chance to talk to her father with a worried look on her face. He could tell she wanted to interrupt but she knew better.

"I wondered if maybe he was here for a specific reason but I guess not." Conan pulled away and leaned again against the display case. Why couldn't he have been so determined to stay put when Light was watching him? And a better question why was Conan concerned about the superintendent? The serious expression that had been on his face earlier was back and now Light knew what-or whom he was staring at.

"...A specific reason like what?" He chanced asking. Conan kept his gaze on Kuroda, the tone of voice he used wasn't childlike at all- but that same cold and calculating tone he heard him use on the loopline.

"Maybe there was another big case or... something else.."

"...Something else?" Light pressed. Conan's concentration on the man didn't falter for a moment but Light did notice he seemed to be sweating again. Was he afraid of that man? the idea seemed ludicrous considering Conan's track record. From what he had been able to read about him, this kid was fearless.

"More than likely, Nakamori's been placed on a probation." Light raised an eyebrow-he wasn't one hundred percent sure on how all the departments worked but he knew that the person in charge of the white collar and grandiose theft department wasn't the same person in charge of homicide and violent crimes. Conan was lying. But it would explain why Aoko had been so eager to interrupt earlier and why Nakamori had seemed so passionate.

They both watched as Aoko was finally able to get her father's attention-unable to stay silent and started to pull him off to the side. More than likely she wanted her father to get the credit for finding the jewel. Light looked down at Conan again and noted that he was still staring transfixed at the new superintendent. What had that man done to upset Conan this much?

"I have the key!" Aoko announced from beside him as she'd just come running up, her father hot on her heels and was now slightly out of breath.

"Aoko said that bastard doesn't have the jewel?" He sounded hopeful. Conan let out a discontented sigh.

"While that is true, we didn't really want anyone to know about that yet." Nakamori waved it off and moved over to the display case, opening it up feeling around in the bottom until he must have found the jewel as a look of relief displayed on his face.

"Don't take it out!" Conan warned. Nakamori raised an eyebrow at him but closed the case and, taking the key from his daughter locked it up. Conan turned to give the inspector a serious look before he went back to staring down Kuroda or whatever the man's name was.

"Does this mean that Kid loses?" Aoko asked, practically radiating happiness.

"Of course Aoko, he couldn't outwit the police forever!" Nakamori sounded triumphant. Even though it had been-

"But wasn't it Hakuba-kun and the other two that realised the emerald was still there?" Aoko asked innocently just as Light was thinking the same thing. Nakamori deflated.

"In any case, he'll probably come back for it so I should set up a perimeter." He wandered away to find some more of the task force just after exchanging a look with Conan. He didn't even have to ask him to stay there, Conan wasn't moving he didn't even seem to be paying attention anymore.

"Check the display case!" Conan snapped back to life. Startled by the sudden demand, Light impulsively tried to open the case, realisation dawning once it had come open. Oh. He and Aoko both spun around in search of her father but he seemed to have disappeared. It didn't take a genius to figure out they'd all just been played.

"Ugh!" Aoko groaned in frustration. "This is why he should be in prison!" If he hadn't been so furious with the idea of Kid pulling such a ridiculous trick on him he might have found her outburst amusing. The intangible Kaitou Kid hopefully wouldn't remain intangible for long. "-Where'd Conan-kun go?" He heard Aoko's voice and looked down to see that Conan had left his post. So much for thinking he'd stay put. Where he'd gone, Light had no idea nor did he particularly care. He had an itch to write a few more names.

"I'm sure Conan-kun will find Kid, should we head home?" He offered her his hand and Aoko considered it.

"Um… okay but I need to run to the restroom, will you wait?" She looked down at her shoes like an embarrassed child.

"Of course." He lowered his hand and watch Aoko disappear into the crowd. He leaned against the display case as Conan had been doing and noticed that the man that had Conan distracted had gone.

That kid had been an annoyingly persistent thought as of late. Ever since he'd 'assisted' in solving the murder of that video game engineer he kept coming to the same conclusion that Conan must have done something. He couldn't for the life of him think of what it was nor why Conan would want Light to take the credit for his deductions.

Another thing that bothered him was how little he found on the kid when he tried running him through a search. He shouldn't have been surprised-Conan was a minor after all and for their protection it was generally harder to find information on them. Practically the only thing he had found on Conan were a few cases he'd solved with his classmates and of course his battles against the infamous Kid that had made him famous.

He wouldn't have cared if not for the fact he'd rather avoid being used like a puppet again. He needed to know what had happened that day and Ryuk was useless. Maybe if he had enough apples he could bribe him into following Conan for a while.

He closed his eyes and tried to force the thought out of his head again and instead focused on the fact that Aoko was taking too long. How long did she need anyway? He'd assumed she went off to powder her nose or whatever it was girls did on dates, but then she hadn't seemed romantically interested in him-too distracted by the heist no doubt.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO CONAN-KUN YOU BASTARD?" He heard the noise but didn't register the question was aimed at him until-

"Ah! Sera-neechan! That's not-!"

The next thing Light was aware of was a harsh pain throbbing in the side of his face and that he was suddenly on the ground. It took a full four seconds for him to register that he'd just been kicked. In the face. What the Hell was going on?

"A-Are you okay?" Conan had returned from where ever he'd disappeared to. If he had stayed put then this wouldn't have happened. This was Conan's fault.

"I'm fine." Light tried not to grit his teeth. He tried to be good natured about it but who the hell went around and kicked people in the face and asked questions later?

"S-sorry about that. I thought you were Kid and had done something to Conan." The person responsible for kicking him didn't sound all that sorry. That much he'd been able to gather on his own. Light rubbed his cheek. It still hurt. He was still mad.

"It's good that Conan-kun is so well protected." He tried not to sound too icy. "Where did you go any way?" The brat just shrugged like it wasn't even worth mentioning.

"After Kid. I managed to get this back." He pulled the Emerald out of his pocket. "But Kid didn't really want it-so it was more like he gave it to me."

"You were able to find him that quickly?" Light raised an eyebrow. Again, Conan shrugged.

"I knew where he was going." If Light didn't know any better he might have said that perhaps Conan had figured everything out from the start and just let the events play out to a certain point.

"And? Where is he now?" Hakuba pressed. Conan gave him that same bewildered look he'd been giving Light anytime he thought he was asking obvious questions. It was good to see someone else on the receiving end of it.

"He probably went home." Was the obvious answer. Hakuba sighed in discontent either because Kid got away or because Conan had just made him feel like an idiot.

"Well that's okay. We'll get him next time." Sera stated, entirely too cheerful for someone that had just kicked him in the face.

"Aa… speaking of getting him-I should find the real Inspector and give him the Emerald." At that Conan dashed off again. Sera followed right after him, calling after him to wait up. This left Light with Hakuba. The two watched the others go and Hakuba turned to face him and hm'd.

"I suppose I'll take my leave as well, give my regards to Aoko-kun." He nodded before moving off towards the exit.

"What was all that about?" Light heard Aoko's voice behind him and turned to face her. She was a sight for sore eyes with her simple dress and butterfly pins. There was just one thing wrong though. He gripped her wrist tightly. "Wha-What are you-"

"Where is she?" He asked almost tiredly. Aoko blinked and tried to pull her wrist free.

"I-What are you talking about? Where's who?" To her credit she certainly looked concerned for his mental health. That, unfortunately, only made him angrier.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. Unless Aoko grew a full cup size in the time she went off to the restroom you can't be her. So I'll ask again-Where is she?" With all that he'd been through in the past week he really couldn't help the dangerous edge in his voice. It was just enough to get an acceptable reaction.

"Oh? You sure caught on fast. Have you been staring?" The voice was decidedly Aoko's. It was a little bizarre knowing it wasn't her. He didn't let the question affect him. What did it matter to Kid if Aoko's chest was a bit small? It certainly didn't make her any less attractive.

"It's not a hard thing to miss." He stated boredly. "Now just tell me where she is."

"Sleeping." The fake Aoko stated extremely unhelpfully. "Are you worried?" Light couldn't help but roll his eyes. This conversation was a little strange for his taste and he regularly killed people with a notebook.

"Worried? About what a man that's been stalking her and then took her clothes might have been? Of course I am." He'd be expected to, as her date and all. "And I'm sure her father would like to know you've been disguising as his daughter."

"I haven't done anything disrespectful, There's no need to involve Nakamori-keibu in this. He'll have enough paperwork to deal with. Besides, I just saved his job." Why he continued to use Aoko's voice Light would never know but it was getting a little creepy.

"Saved his job?"

"With help of the little detective. I gave him explicit instructions to give it to the Inspector. Will you let me go now, Light-kun?" It was Aoko's voice but the tone of it was off. Light considered the question-he could call over the task force and Kaitou Kid would be caught once and for all-it would destroy his popularity and give Kira the opportunity to grant Aoko's wish from the other day. However, if he were the one to catch Kid and then kill him then it might throw suspicion onto Light himself.

He'd have to let him go. For now.

"Not until you tell me where she is." He decided, keeping his hold on the thief. Was it normal for Kid to withhold information like this? It didn't matter, if Kid didn't want to be caught then he would tell him where he put Aoko.

"Sleeping like a princess." Kid stated still not willing to give him the information. He probably thought Light would give up and go look for her if he couldn't get him to talk which would allow the thief time to escape. He squeezed a little tighter on the wrist and Kid winced. "Ouch. Take it easy. I bruise easily!" Light didn't care.

"Tell me where she is and I'll let you go." So far this had not been his night and he ready to just go home but he couldn't exactly leave without his date. Especially now that he knew she was was probably locked in a broom closet somewhere possibly naked but he was hoping that Kid just happened to have a dress of the same design.

"You'd rather rescue the fair maiden than capture the dastardly phantom thief?" The look on Light's face told the thief just how unamused he was. If the bastard could just stop stalling and tell him what he wanted to know then Kid go on his way to heist another day until Kira could finally deal with him.

"Call it what you will, but if you want me to let you go then you'll tell me where she is." The resulting cackle was not what Light had expected.

"You really think I can't get away from you? You have a lot to learn about Phantoms Yagami-san." And with a loud Pop! The fake Aoko vanished in a puff of confetti and pink smoke.


	7. Abnormal

**( quick a/n: sorry it took so long to get this up. But truth is I was recently in an accident and sprained my wrist. It's made typing a chore so until it heals up there might be slower updates. And in case you were wondering, I still don't own either Detective Conan, Magic Kaito or Death Note. )**

Light wasn't entirely sure what happened. One moment he'd caught the almost legendary Kaitou Kid. The next Kid had vanished leaving only confetti and dissipating smoke. In that instant he suddenly understood why so many detectives tried to catch him despite that he wasn't exactly a threat to society. There was no denying that he was annoyance that needed to be dealt with but he wasn't a threat-he was a challenge. The Kid had let Light believe that he'd had him only to prove to him how very wrong he was.

"Ryuk." He kept his voice low, eyes flickering towards the Shinigami. Ryuk probably found the whole thing amusing but the irritating look on his face vanished the moment he'd heard his name, giving his full attention to Light. "Did you happen to see which way he went?" Ryuk shook his head but Light wasn't sure if he was telling the truth or not. Irritating Shinigami.

He took a breath to try and calm himself before glancing around the room. Kaitou Kid was human. No matter how much he tried to pass himself off as a ghost he was still flesh and blood so he couldn't have possibly vanished into thin air. He had to be around somewhere. Looking at it in that light though made everyone seem suspicious. He should probably just find Aoko and go home. Kid had to have traded places with her when she'd run off to the restroom so logically he had to have stashed her between here and the women's restroom.

Thirty minutes later and Light was convinced that Kaitou Kid didn't follow logic because he'd checked every closet and room leading to the public restrooms. He pushed the janitor closet next to the only restroom Aoko could have used closed with a forceful snap. If he didn't know any better he'd say that Kaitou Kid was trying to keep him away from Nakamori Aoko. There'd be no other reason to store her somewhere that far out of the way. Or had he just left her in the stall?

"Ryuk." He stated, having debated the pros and cons of going in himself. He'd come to the conclusion it wasn't worth it. "Go inside and tell me if Aoko's in there." His voice was final but Ryuk still hesitated, eying the girl's bathroom as though it was some kind of void that might suck him into oblivion. Stupid Shinigami.

He pulled out his phone and hunted through the list of names he'd recently added until he found 'Mouri Ran.' Thankfully, it didn't take her too long to answer. "Ran-san, I need a small favor, are you still down stairs at the event?"

"We were about to leave but what do you need?" Good. Ran was far more useful than some other parties that were nearby. He informed her where to meet him and clicked the phone off. Now all he had to do was wait.

"You sure are giving it your all to find this girl." Ryuk chuckled. "You sure you don't have a crush?" Light scoffed at the notion. Him? Have a crush? He had no intention of throwing his hat into the ring with Kuroba and Hakuba.

"Don't be ridiculous Ryuk, as her date and chief Yagami Soichiro's son, I couldn't possibly leave her to wake up on her own. Besides, what if Kid has done something to her? I'd like to get a look, just to see. It could be just what I need to bring his popularity down." He explained. Always looking for an opportunity was one of his strong suits after all.

"You sure you aren't just worried?" Ryuk's teasing was getting annoying and Light grit his teeth.

"If I were worried, I'd have checked the stalls without asking for Ran-san's assistance." He pointed out, leaning casually against the wall while waited for Ran to arrive. He was glad she didn't take long and moved away from the wall to greet her, taking note of the fact that Conan had followed along and was now glaring darkly at him. What had he done?

"Thank you for coming, Ran-san. I'm sorry I didn't explain much over the phone, but Kid had disguised as my date-I'm concerned-" He shot a glare at the amused Shinigami. "-that she might be inside." He explained.

"Then why didn't you just check on your own? No one else is around." Conan spoke up before Ran could get a word in, his tone flat and annoyed.

"C-Conan-kun!" Ran looked shocked at his poor manners. Light's gaze shot down to Conan-the seven year old was still glaring. It wasn't the same unsettling narrowed glare from earlier there-more like a tiny body guard or over protective puppy.

"It's fine, I don't mind." Light said good naturedly, trying to ignore the glare before glancing down at Conan. "I thought about that-but I didn't want anyone to get the wrong idea." Ran was convinced but Conan clearly wasn't. "I'll stay out here with Conan-kun if it'll make him feel better." He offered.

"Sorry about this." Ran apologized, for what he wasn't entirely sure but he nodded and leaned against the wall again.

"Did Kid really disguise as your girlfriend?" Conan asked, his voice sounding very much like a suspicious seven year old. There was just no pleasing this kid.

"Yes. He did a poor job of it, too." Light sighed. Conan looked even more suspicious.

"Kaitou Kid is a perfectionist though, it's a little strange that you say it was a poor job of disguise." Conan stated folding his arms behind his head. The tone said very clearly how much the brat did not believe him.

"Let's just say that he added an extra detail he probably thought no one would notice." Light tried to sugar coat it. He wasn't about to tell the overly suspicious seven year old what the mistake was. Conan was still eying him suspiciously-he still didn't believe him. Not that Light really cared what a seven year old thought of him.

"Kid's not the kind of person that makes those kind of mistakes though. He wouldn't add in details like that since it increased the likelihood of capture. If it happened as you say it did-he would have had a reason for it." The suspicious tone in this brat's voice was getting really annoying, really fast. It did give Light something to think about though-if what Conan said was true what reason could Kid possibly have to make Aoko's chest slightly larger than it really was? Once again, he couldn't help but wonder if the Kid was intentionally trying to keep Aoko away from him.

"Regardless of what you think, that is what happened." Light tried not to sound too annoyed at the implication he was lying. Before Conan could retort, Ran re-emerged and shook her head.

"There's no one here." she stated what Light had realised the moment she shook her head. Where could Kid had possibly put her and now a far more pressing question, why? He could feel Conan's suspicious little glare intensifying.

"Ne, Why would Kaitou Kid store her somewhere so far out of the way? That doesn't make sense." The statement was so pointed Light had to resist the urge to react.

"Well, when he disguised as me he stored me in a lifeboat-that seems a little out of the way, doesn't it?" Ran tried to pacify Conan but he wasn't convinced.

"That's not surprising." Conan stated, tone a little softer now that he was talking to Ran directly. Oh, someone did have a crush. It just wasn't Light. "Ran-neechan had left to the bathroom and probably just got lost on her way there." Ran coughed, sounding indignant. It was true then. Perhaps it had been the same in Aoko's case?

"Regardless, shouldn't we tell the police if she's missing?" Ran tried to push past Conan's comment. Light considered it-he'd really rather not tell the inspector that he'd given Kid the opportunity to kidnap his daughter.

"Conan-kun, I've heard from several sources you're particularly good at finding Kid-what does he usually do with the people he disguises as?" Conan's glare vanished as he thought over the question being asked to him, no doubt recalling every disguise victim.

"He knocks them out." He supplied, less than helpfully. "He usually leaves them in a bathroom stall or somewhere near where he took their place but sometimes he'll hide the person in an obvious spot with a mask over their face so you think it's actually someone else." Light considered Conan's answer. Kid had done neither of those things with Aoko. Why was the pattern different with her?

"Would there be any reason he'd stray from the general pattern?" He inquired, Again Conan thought about it but Light could tell by the way his expression kept getting more and more focused that he couldn't really think of anything.

"He's… occasionally just made sure that the person he was disguising as wouldn't be around by calling to tell them plans have changed or something along those lines. But I can't think of any instance in which he deliberately made it difficult to find someone." Conan finally decided, still trying to come up with a plausible answer.

"...Maybe she used a different restroom?" Ran threw in her two cents. It was possible, but this would have been the easiest to get to and the only other restroom opened to the public had been in the opposite direction of the way Aoko had run off. Possible but unlikely.

"She headed off towards this one though." Light said calmly. "She asked me to wait and I watched her leave in this direction." Conan and Ran both looked at one another and went right back to puzzling over where Nakamori Aoko could have possibly gotten to.

"I don't think it's because the restroom was full." Conan offered. "It's a pretty exclusive party and there should have been more than enough stalls." That ruled out that theory. "It starting to seem like Kid really did move her somewhere she wouldn't be easily found." It really was a special case. How annoying. Maybe he should just give up and go home. "You've already checked all the closets on the way here, haven't you?"

"Of course." Light tried not to sound appalled. As if he wouldn't have thought of that.

"But what reason could Kid have to want to hide her that well?" Ran voiced the question that had been grating on Light's nerves since the beginning of the conversation.

"I wouldn't worry, if Kid was the one that knocked her out then he probably didn't hurt her at all-and he never ties up the girls he disguises as." Conan shrugged it off. Light couldn't have that though, he couldn't just leave her to find her own way back there was no telling how long that'd take and he couldn't just leave without her. "Anyways, if you're that concerned you should ask Hakuba-no-niichan-He's been to more heists than I have."

"I don't believe that I have his number." Light admitted. Conan shrugged.

"Nakamori-keibu probably has it." That was probably true but that involved telling the inspector that Aoko was missing and he really didn't want to do that. What was Kid's problem? Why did he want to make it so difficult to find this girl?

"Is there really no other option?" He asked, half annoyed and not trying nearly as hard anymore to hide it. It was understandable wasn't it?

"You could always expand your search radius. He had to have stored her somewhere nearby because it'd kind of difficult to avoid getting attention if you were carrying someone unconscious." Conan had a point. Even if Kid wanted to make it hard to find her he couldn't have carried her far because she would have been knocked out.

"We'll help you look if you'd like." Ran offered as Conan nodded. They decided that she had to be somewhere on the same floor and no more than twenty minutes outside the route she would have taken to the restroom. Twenty minutes was being generous according to Conan. If she wasn't found with the new search radius then they might have to consider that idea that Kid had originally knocked her out and someone else kidnapped her. Light didn't want to think about that.

It took every bit of a full half hour to find her even with two other people having joined the search. Light was now sure that Kid really wanted to keep someone from finding the inspector's daughter. Light was almost relieved when he finally opened the very last broom closet in the expanded search and found Aoko with a blanket draped over her sleeping soundly. He was a little annoyed with how soundly but it was hardly her fault that Kid has chosen her as his disguise.

"Aoko-chan." He said softly, shaking her shoulder a little. She stirred slightly but otherwise remained asleep. He did not want to carry her but if she didn't wake up he'd be left with little other options. He gave her another small shake, willing her to just wake up.

Her eyes fluttered. Good.

"Aoko-chan, wake up." He said again, trying to sound concerned. She made a noise and started to sit up, blinking blearily at the boy in front of her. Her eyes were a little cloudy and he could tell she'd been drugged. Her dress was intact but Kid had taken the butterfly pins. Perhaps he hadn't counted on them?

"Light-kun?" She asked, obviously trying to piece together what had happened. He didn't answer her, giving her a good look over to see if Kid had done anything to her-not that he could immediately tell. As Conan had stated was normal for Kid he'd left her clothes on and hadn't tied her up. He offered his hand out to her to pull her onto her feet.

"Sorry Aoko-chan, it seems Kid-san got away with your clips." He stated, immediately she reached up to see that her clips were indeed gone.

"Bastard." She hissed angrily. Light pushed a stray strand of her hair out of her face, letting his finger linger on her chin more or less to distract her from the oncoming rant about Kid. Not that he disagreed with her at all, it was more that he just didn't want to think about Kid right now. "He can't just take people's hair clips!" She stated angrily pulling away from him a looking down the hall as though expecting him to be just disappearing around the corner. So much for distracting her.

"I'm sorry that happened to you, I shouldn't have let you go off on your own." He switched tactics. "But I'm glad you're okay."

"Those clips were expensive!" She was still ranting, obviously very upset over her stolen hair clips. "Those were my favorite! He better give them back." Was there anything he could do to get her to calm down?

"Kid usually returns what he steals, doesn't he?" Light offered. "They might just turn up in your room." Aoko looked at him like she thought he might be crazy.

"He better not go in Aoko's room!" She stated angrily. He'd have been amused if not for the fact he was extremely irritated at the moment. However he couldn't blame her for not wanting him in her room.

"Would you like me to stay with you while you search your room?" He offered. That paused her anger and he could tell she was thinking about it. He offered her his hand, intent on leading her home.

oooOOOoooOOOooo

Things hadn't slowed down at the Detective Agency since the rise of Kira but Conan was pleased to see they slammed to a stop for the detective boys. It wasn't surprising most kids were scared of Kira. The lack of business didn't bother Shinichi one bit though as it allowed him to focus on more important matters. As he normally did, he stayed ten steps behind Genta and the others with the same thoughtful expression they were used to by now. As per normal his long standing ally in keeping the kids out of trouble was right beside him while he contemplated his next move.

"Kudou-kun, could it be that you're not particularly interested in this trip to Tropical Land?" The girl known as Haibara Ai questioned. His eyes pulled away from the ground in front of him and he turn them towards the strawberry blonde beside him-his expression much less than amused. He was not looking forward to the trip. After nearly being murdered and forced to swallow an experimental poison at Tropical Land he'd have to say he'd completely lost his taste for it. Along with any other amusement park.

"I have more important things to be doing." He stated arrogantly. Haibara gave him a look of her own. Hers was far more impressive.

"What are you hiding, Kudou-kun?" She asked, voice low enough the other three couldn't hear. Shinichi tried to look innocent.

"Nothing, don't be so suspicious." He hadn't told her anything regarding the conversation he'd had with Vermouth as he knew she'd just get upset. He'd promised to protect her and part of that involved protecting her peace of mind.

"Kudou-kun…" The tone in her voice was edging on dangerous but Shinichi continued to play innocent. "Does this have to do with the new superintendent?"

"Huh?" Shinichi blinked. "Oh, no." His voice was even enough and convincing enough Haibara seemed to have taken it for the truth. "Just thinking about the Kira Case." It wasn't a complete lie and it did satisfy the shrunken biochemist.

"Of course that case would interest you. But you shouldn't get involved. The only security you have with that case is the fact you have a false name, but this case is a little advanced for Edogawa Conan's skills, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I suppose so, and giving Occhan the credit would be placing him in danger." Shinichi pretended to let out a defeated sigh. "And I can't solve it as myself because it would gain too much attention." He paused, waiting for her nod of approval. "Speaking of gaining attention though-Kira-san must be making those guys nervous by now."

Haibara's eyes snapped back to him, waiting for him to continue when he didn't she looked him over suspiciously. "Kira hasn't stumbled onto them yet and you should hope that he doesn't." She turned back to face the three children climbing into the bus going Tropical Land.

"What does that mean?" Shinichi asked, how could she know that Kira hadn't gotten to the organisation yet? Did she think they retaliate if he did? At the rate he was going it was only a matter of time before he did. The Balance of probability was just against them in that regard.

"Conan-kun! Ai-chan! Hurry up or you'll be left behind!" The overly cheerful voice of Ayumi sounded as she waved at them from the bus. Conan and Haibara both dropped the subject and sped up, getting on the bus right before the doors closed.

Haibara continued over to an empty seat and Shinichi looked around as he normally did upon entering any where. There weren't very many people on the bus-a couple near the front that seemed to be deep in discussion, Genta and others were seated at the back, on the other side of them was a man sitting by himself and keeping a close eye on the person in front of him-a bit odd that he'd be on the bus by himself at his age.

"Ah le? Light-niichan?" Shinichi recognised him. He had a girl sitting beside him-the same girl from the Kid heist, chatting animatedly about something. At the sound of his name, Light's eyes flickered to the smaller.

"Aa, Conan-kun, this is a coincidence. Are you going to tropical land too?" He smiled pleasantly. Shinichi nodded his head, trying hard not to show just how displeased he was with that fact. Kids liked amusement parks, he had to at least pretend. Then again, he could always say that he didn't like them since he'd almost been killed at Tropical Land and then again at Miracle Land. It wouldn't even be a lie.

"I wouldn't have thought that Light-niichan was very interested in amusement parks though-there's no studying involved." He stated in a very innocent child like way. The look that flash across Light's face was slightly shocked and the girl beside him started giggling.

"I think he just called you boring." She whispered into Light's ear. He let out an exasperated sigh, not really too upset over the statement.

"I'm allowed to go out for a day of fun-It's my reward to myself for having done so well on my practice exams." He stated evenly before glancing at his date. "And besides, Aoko-chan is adventurous and this seemed like a much more suitable date option for her."

"Eh?" Aoko's cheeks flushed bright red and she sank back in her chair a little. Light didn't react. Shinichi's wasn't concerned with Light's date, he was concerned with the man that seemed to watching him intently.

"You'd better go sit down," Light advised. "The bus will move soon and you could get hurt." Shinichi smiled a bright innocent smile and moved over to the empty window seat beside Haibara.

"Oi, switch seats with me, I need to keep an eye on the man behind Yagami." Shinichi whispered. He wasn't sure why the man was there, but a fully grown man riding a bus to an amusement park with no kids or date registered as suspicious. Haibara sighed and moved to the window so Shinichi could keep an eye on things happening in the aisle.

"Y-you didn't tell me this was a date!" He heard Light's date whispering harshly, clearly not wanting to cause a scene. Light wasn't nearly as quiet with his answer.

"Oh, was it not a date to you?" His voice was even and pleasant. Aoko stammered incoherently, clearly not sure how to respond. "Would you have turned me down?"

"W-Well no.. I mean-I just wish you had told me it was a date." She was whispering again, Light sighed.

"Aoko-chan, I called you last night and asked if you wanted to go to Tropical Land with me, why wouldn't it be a date? Is it a problem?"

"No, of course not. Th-thank you for inviting me out today." Shinichi immediately tuned their conversation out it wasn't important. The entire time the bus was moving the man sitting behind Light kept glancing up at him-why though? Perhaps Shinichi should find an excuse to follow Light and Aoko around when they got there just in case.

Two stops before they reached Tropical Land it was clear there was a sudden change of plans as a man with his arms stuffed in his pockets stepped onto the bus. Shinichi recognised him from the news and with the man's hand in his pockets like that he could only assume what it was he was he was concealing.

He heard the click of the firearm before he saw it jammed against the bus driver's head.

"I'm hijacking this bus!"


	8. Bus Jack

(a/n: so sorry this took so long! My arm is still recovering but I had to get this up. Due to how important the bus jacking is to both Light and Conan you will get to read both perspectives!)

(Light)

"I'm hijacking this bus!" The bus jacker exclaimed loudly. Several people on the bus screamed but Light was surprised to find Aoko wasn't one of them. He looked to see what she was doing and found she was staring rather intently at the gun in the man's hand. If he didn't know any better he'd say she was pissed.

"I'll kill anyone that makes a scene!" Kiichiro Osoreda, the bus jacker, threatened, aiming the gun towards the passengers.

Aoko was sitting at the edge of her seat, fingers digging into the seat in front of them and just glared at him. Was she looking for an opening? He needed to put things in motion fast if only to keep Aoko from getting killed. Only one person was supposed to die on this bus and it certainly wasn't her. He glanced to the side where Conan was seated slightly irritated that he was on the bus as well. He knew from Conan's track record there was a high chance Conan would try to interfere-that couldn't happen either. He had to move things along quickly before he lost control.

Light slipped an ordinary piece of paper out of his jacket pocket and scribbled a quick note that he was sure the man sitting behind him would read over his shoulder.

"Driver, you know the number to Tropical Land, right?" The criminal was talking to the bus driver, who nodded nervously. "Call it."

The bus driver did exactly as he was told. "I-I am the driver of bus one twenty four and we've been hijacked by a man with a gun-"

"Give me the phone." The criminal snatched the phone away from the driver. "He's telling the truth." he stated. "Tell a girl to bring yesterday's financial reports to the bus stop two stops from Tropical Land. If you do anything or call the police I'll kill all the passengers on the bus." The threat earned a few more terrified squeaks from the passengers.

Light tapped the side of Aoko's leg and showed her the piece of paper that he'd written on. ' _Don't worry; When the criminal isn't looking I'll attack the hand with the gun. My dad taught me a few things and the criminal is small. I can probably take him.'_

"Mm!" Aoko whispered with a nod. "I'll create a distraction." She offered. Light would admire her courage but she wouldn't have to be a distraction, it wouldn't come to that.

"That's dangerous! Don't do that!" The man that had been following Light the past few days had seen the note and obviously couldn't let two teenagers try and take on an armed criminal. "Let me handle this." Light started to write a response, not wanting the conversation to be overheard. "You don't have to write on the paper, the bus jacker can't hear us over the sound of the bus."

Light crumpled the paper in his hand and stuck it in his jacket pocket. "Excuse me, but I can tell you're not Japanese from your accent."

"Yeah, I'm Japanese-American." the man confirmed. Light was about to coax the man into showing him some ID but Aoko spoke up first.

"How do we know that you're not an accomplice?" She asked, eyeing him suspiciously. Good girl Aoko, now he wouldn't even be the one that asked for the identification.

"Sorry, both our dad's work for the police, so we know that this sort of thing happens often-make everyone think there's only one bus jacker but there are really two." Light explained. The man looked uncomfortable at first but finally produced what looked like a black wallet. It contained his ID but it wasn't anything that Light expected. FBI? Did L have the FBI investigating the police?

Raye Penbar.. He memorised the name and face.

"I don't know why the FBI is here, but I believe you, we'll leave this to you." Light conceded, he got ready to drop the piece of paper in his jacket but froze when he heard a ' _thud'_ hit the ground and looked down to see Conan rubbing the back of his head. Had he fallen off his seat? How? They hadn't turned.

"Oi! What are you doing brat, do you want to die!?" The criminal had noticed and was stalking towards the child. Idiot child! Why couldn't he have stayed in his seat?

"She pushed me!" Conan pointed to the girl he'd been sitting by. She didn't look like she'd just shoved him off the seat. She looked almost bored. The explanation didn't seem to pacify the hijacker at all and he leveled his gun on the child.

"Leave him alone!" Aoko stood up abruptly. The gun turned on her and Light could tell it had scared her but the determined look on her face only faltered a moment. "He's just a kid, he only fell out of his seat!" She pointed out. Aoko was causing a scene and if she didn't stop he could very well shoot her. Light didn't want that-He stood up to stand in front of her, using the movement as an excuse to 'accidentally' drop a scrap of crumpled up paper from his pocket. The gun immediately moved to him.

"Don't move! What's on that little scrap!?" The criminal demanded, moving over and snatching it off the ground. "Passing notes to each other, what are you guys doing?"

"Conan. get back in your seat." Light hissed. Conan seemed almost embarrassed and climbed quietly back into his seat as he had been instructed. Light felt back in control the moment he saw the criminal reading the note he'd scribbled about meeting up with Aoko to go to Tropical Land.

"Tch. A date note. How boring." The bus jacker threw the piece of paper back at Light. It hit his head and fell back on the floor. Light scooped it back up and put in his pocket. _Perfect!_

"Listen up! Don't make any sudden move or else-" And it happened, a look of wide-eyed terror crossed the man's face and he pointed his gun at the unseen shinigami standing right at the back of the bus. "WH-WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING? THAT THING IN THE BACK!? I-I'm going to shoot you, you monster!" Light knew exactly what he was talking about to everyone else though-

"Crap! He's hallucinating-!" The FBI agent started.

"EVERYONE GET DOWN!" Conan shouted before Raye had the chance to. Light covered Aoko. His concern for her would surely knock him even farther down the suspect list if wasn't completely removed from it by this point already. Aoko may have been acting brave but he could feel her jump after each shot fired at Ryuk. He supposed he could hardly blame her, after all she didn't know the fate of failed bank robber.

He heard Ryuk talking to the man, telling him how bullets didn't work on a shinigami-not that the criminal was listening. He fired his sixth and final shot and several clicking noises announced to the bus that he was out of ammunition. Once he'd realized this he turned tail and fled, headed right for his death.

He glanced over at Conan to see where he was and was glad he had as the brat was about to give chase. The bus screeched to halt and threw the seven year old to the floor but he got right back up. Light had seen this child run out into traffic before and he couldn't take the chance that he wouldn't do it again. Instinctively, he reached out and grabbed the small boys arm. He could easily get away with saying he didn't want Conan chasing after a dangerous criminal.

"He's getting awa-" Conan started, Light still gripping his arm. He only had to hold onto him for just a few seconds. Just until-outside a car had slammed on its brakes, tires squealing loudly and the inevitable sound that had followed it suggested exactly what had just happened. Conan yanked his arm free and ran to the front of the bus, followed closely by Raye. Light glanced out the window to see the car that had killed Kiichiro was blocking most of the carnage. His eyes flickered down to Aoko, she was staring at the car too.

"Aoko-chan…" He said gently getting her to look at him. "Are you okay?"

"I-Is he dead?" She asked, he could read the concern in her eyes. That man had just pointed a gun at her and she was concerned. Light didn't know if he found her compassion to be idiotic or endearing.

"I don't know, It's hard to imagine that he survived that." Light stated, being careful not to sound too callous. Aoko immediately turned back to the window, still worried for a man that would have killed her if given the opportunity. "I'm going to see how things are, do you want to stay here?" She nodded and Light moved to the front of the bus. He had to move to the side to avoid getting run over by Conan who was rushing back onto the bus. Perhaps it had been too much for even little Edogawa Conan?

Light stepped off the bus and looked around. The Driver had gotten out of the car and Raye approached him from the side.

"Hey." The FBI agent addressed him.

"Yes?" Light turned to him, doing his best to sound like he was disturbed by the body all over the pavement.

"The truth is, I'm in Japan on a secret mission so please.." Raye started, Light nodded.

"Understood, I won't tell anyone I met you here, not even my father." It worked well into Light's favor that Raye didn't want anyone to know he'd been here-he knew the police could be quite territorial when it came to the FBI. Better yet, Penbar didn't suspect a thing, what happened today would filed as just another incident.

"I'll be leaving now, things could get messy when the police get here." He stated before turning his back to Light and walking off. Good. No one but he and Aoko knew that Raye was FBI-and speaking of Aoko-he turned around to go back into the bus but nearly came nose to nose with Aoko. How long had she been there?

"Aoko." He said suddenly, leaving off the honorific. "Are you feeling better?" She shook her head, pointedly not looking at the dead body.

"I'm trying but-" She started, Light put his hands on her shoulders and pulled her closer in a tight hug.

"It's alright. It was a traumatic experience." He said soothingly. To his surprise she pushed him off.

"I-I'm fine." She stammered, still not looking at the body. "It-it''s just that it's horrible when someone dies." She stated. Light looked back at the dead criminal, he supposed if you weren't expecting it, it would be rather jarring, and he could tell by how chopped her words sounded that she was actually quite disturbed. For some reason she was trying to be strong and not let it affect her.

Not good! Shinichi knew that Osoreda had a jumpy trigger finger and he could tell exactly where this was going.

"What a mess. We were just on our way to Tropical Land and this happened." He turned back to her. "But speaking of that-Raye-san said he was on a special assignment and didn't want the police to know he was here so-"

"Don't mention him?" she finished for him. Light smiled and nodded glad she was able to catch on.

"Yeah, Penbar-san would would be quite grateful." He stated for show. "And we'll just take a raincheck on that trip to tropical land." That took care of one risk factor the other one might be a little more difficult to convince.

oooOOOooo

(Shinichi)

"I'm hijacking this bus!" The bus jacker exclaimed loudly. Several people on the bus screamed but Shinichi sat with rapt attention, eying the handgun in the man's hand. He'd been on the news for killing three people during a failed bank robbery just the other day, his name was Osoreda Kiichiro if he was remembering correctly and since he'd shot the three people he was accused of killing it was probably safe to assume that the gun was real and that Osoreda had a jumpy trigger finger. Somehow, he had to get the gun away from him without anyone getting shot.

"I'll kill anyone that makes a scene!" The man threatened, pointing the gun towards the back of the bus to make a point. The longer this went on the more likely someone would end up dead and Shinichi really didn't like the way Osoreda was pointing the gun towards the Detective Boys. He needed to act fast.

He glanced around at the other passengers. If Osoreda was working alone than Shinichi could just lure him closer and knock him out with the wrist watch. It was unlikely he had accomplices, but he had to be sure. If he did have an accomplice than it was likely someone sitting at the back to keep a better eye on the passengers. The Detective boys were taking up most of the back seat and only left the man that had been watching Yagami as a possible suspect.

He looked back to the front of the bus and up at the giant rear view mirror. He supposed the accomplice could be someone up front watching the mirror but all eyes seemed to be facing up front.

"Driver, you know the number to Tropical Land, right?" He could hear Osoreda saying. The driver nodded nervously. "Call it." Not wanting to cause the bus jacker any trouble, the driver quickly obeyed, yanking the transceiver down and calling into Tropical Land's offices.

"I-I am the driver of bus one twenty four and we've been hijacked by a man with a gun-"

"Give me the phone." Osoreda yanked the transceiver away from the driver. "He's telling the truth." he stated. "Tell a girl to bring yesterday's financial reports to the bus stop two stops from Tropical Land. If you do anything or call the police I'll kill all the passengers on the bus." A few of the hostages squeaked-trying not to cause a scene.

Financial reports? Shinichi narrowed his eyes at the bus jacker. Why would he want the financial reports? The obvious answer would be to rob the place but then why take them all hostage and just ask for the reports? It'd make more sense to ask for yesterday's profits. For that matter, why rob an amusement park? A bank is much more likely to have money as an Amusement park wasn't really a place someone would think to rob.

Whatever, he'd have the police ask later, right now he had a crisis to deal with. He turned to his occasionally partner, Haibara Ai.

"Haibara." He whispered low so that the bus jacker couldn't hear him. She glanced over at him. "I'm gonna need your help on this one."

"Hai, hai. Payment will be discussed after you've saved the day." She said lazily.

"Oi, oi. How much money do you think I have?" He asked, half annoyed. She didn't seem to care in the least as she only yawned. She was probably the only one capable of yawning right now. "I need you create a distraction so I can lure Osoreda over here." He let it go, knowing better than to press the issue. He could probably just ask his mom to send Haibara whatever expensive bag she was asking for anyway.

At first she didn't respond and irritation was starting to creep up on the shrunken detective. "Oi. We don't really have a whole lot of-Waugh!" He let suddenly as she shoved him off the bus seat and his side met with bus flooring. That was not exactly what he had in mind.

"Oi! What are you doing brat, do you want to die!?" It had done the trick at least as Shinichi suddenly had all eyes turned his direction and a gun pointed at him.

"She pushed me!" He whined in a classic little kid-like tone. Osoreda wasn't impressed and continued to stalk towards him, gun in hand. That's good-just a little closer. He flipped the lid of his watch up.

"Leave him alone!" Yagami's date stood up quickly. "He's just a kid! he only fell out of his seat!" Osoreda pointed his gun in the direction of Nakamori Aoko and Yagami stood up to protect her-accidentally dropping a piece of paper.

"Don't move! What's on that little scrap of paper?" Osoreda moved over and scooped up the wadded up piece of paper Yagami had dropped. Shinichi stole the opportunity to fire a sleeping dart directly at Osoreda.

Or he had planned to.

"Passing notes to each other, what are you guys doing?" ' _Shit! I forgot to refill it!'_ He realised. How embarrassing! He'd have to find some other way of taking Osoreda down.

"Conan." Yagami hissed at him, sounding a little annoyed. "Get back in your seat." But-! He glanced at Osoreda and tried to think of something he could do, still upset with himself for not replacing the dart in his watch. It wasn't like he could just kick a soccer ball at them man with Yagami watching him so closely. Quietly, Shinichi climbed back into his seat and went back to contemplating his next move.

"Perhaps next time check to make sure you have all the necessary equipment." Haibara stated in her usual deadpan voice.

"Leave it." Shinichi said flatly.

"Tch. A date note how boring." Shinichi watched as Osoreda crumpled the piece of paper Yagami had dropped and threw it back at it's original owner. It bounced off Yagami's forehead and landed back on the floor where it was quietly scooped back up and stored in the same pocket it had fallen from.

At least no one had been shot.

"Listen up!" Osoreda was saying, Shinichi glared. "Don't make any sudden moves or else-!" The ruthless tone melted away as a look of pure terror washed over the man that was currently holding them all hostage as he stared at something in the back. "WH-WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING!?" He demanded, causing a few people to glance towards whatever it was Osoreda was staring at. "THAT THING IN THE BACK!?" There was nothing there. "I-I'm going to shoot you, you monster!"

"Crap! He's hallucinating!" The man that had been sitting behind Yagami exclaimed. Not good! Shinichi knew that Osoreda had a jumpy trigger finger and he could tell exactly where this was going.

"EVERYONE GET DOWN!" Shinichi shouted, just as Osoreda started firing his weapon at the unseen monster currently plaguing him. Several people screamed and ducked under the bus seats.

Shinichi covered Haibara's head and trusted that the detective boys had taken cover on the ground. He saw out of the corner of his eye that Yagami was covering Aoko. Judging by the firearm he had, he couldn't have any more than six rounds-after six successive shots the empty gun clicked.

Now was the time to act. Shinichi hopped off his seat again but Kiichiro had fled to the front, clinging onto the driver, begging him to stop the bus. The driver slammed on the brakes and Shinichi lost footing, spilling onto the floor-damn only weighing eighteen kilograms. He wasn't down for long and started to give chase only to have someone grab his arm and pull him back. He looked up to see Yagami giving him a very disapproving look.

"He's getting aw-" Shinichi was cut off by the sound of screeching tires and a distinctive 'ka-thunk!' He tore his arm away from Light and dashed to the door of the bus.

It was a horrible mess, blood leaking all over the pavement and the body lying like a lifeless puppet on the ground. The injuries were too great. There was no way anyone could survive that-still, he had to be thorough. He hopped off the bottom step of the bus and moved over to Osoreda. He pressed his middle and index finger against the neck and let out a discontented sigh. Shinichi knew that it had been a lost cause but he couldn't help but feel dissatisfied with the lack of a pulse. Death had probably been instant and he doubted the man had suffered at all but it was still such a waste.

He looked at the now dead man's face and paused. Something wasn't right. That man that had been on the seat behind Yagami had said Osoreda was hallucinating but the eyes weren't dilated and there weren't any obvious signs of recent drug use. He supposed it could a hallucination brought on by withdrawal however Kiichiro had plenty of time to get a fix during the time no one knew where he was.

But if he hadn't been hallucinating, then what had he seen?


	9. After Math

It had been a full ten days since the bus jacking incident and Light had effectively washed his hands of Raye Penbar and the other eleven FBI agents that had been sent to find Kira. Aoko hadn't said anything to anyone about the encounter on the bus-not even to him. She thought that Penbar was on a secret mission and she placed herself firmly on the side of justice. She wasn't anything he had to worry about for now but there was another person on the bus that might be considered a risk factor-Edogawa Conan.

After the incident he'd wanted to pull Conan to the side and tell him not to mention anything about that man to the police but little Conan was a lot smarter than he let on and he didn't exactly hide that he was a genius. He couldn't take the chance he'd piece together that the accident that day had actually been a Kira Murder. The obvious solution would be to create an incident but killing a child was out of the question-even for Kira, killing a child was out of the question. He'd have to just keep a close watch on Conan and pretend to take an interest in his well being as most anyone that had met the child seemed inclined to do.

He'd gone over everything in his head over and over again and even considering Conan as a risk he still felt like there was something wrong-that he missed someone. He needed to find them soon before L could get to them or it was over.

"-Absolutely unacceptable. We're going to be third years soon and he thinks I'm the one with the problem!" He tuned back into Aoko's rant about Kuroba, or so he assumed. He nodded politely and let her keep going. She was easier to handle when he just let her rant about what was upsetting her on that particular day. It was usually either Kuroba or Kaitou Kid. "Most boys grow out of that by the time they hit middle school! Why didn't he get the memo?" He heard her huff angrily and assumed she was done for now.

"I'm sorry Aoko-chan, Kuroba-kun's always been a little immature." He stated, not really paying that much attention to the conversation.

"A little?! He's going to be eighteen in June! He can't go around flipping people's skirts!" She stated, getting angry all over again. Wait. He did what? He turned to actually look at her-cheeks red with indignation at the thought. She was the victim.

"And you've told him to stop?" She stopped walking. He shouldn't have asked such an obvious question. Of course she'd told him to stop. He expected her to be giving him a look like he was an idiot but when he looked back at her she seemed to be honestly thinking about it.

"...No. Not in a few years." She finally admitted. "But he's smart enough to know that when someone hits you they don't want you to do it again."

"And have you hit him?" Light asked. Aoko huffed, clearly annoyed with his question.

"No." She admitted, he was about to point out the flaw in her logic but she continued- "I've never been able to catch him." So it wasn't for lack of trying. Kuroba should have realised she didn't like it. Besides, she'd said it had been a few years since she'd told him to stop, indicating she'd probably given up on telling him to stop because it didn't work.

"Do you want me to have a word with him?" Light offered, he wasn't really looking forward to it but she probably expected him to step up and defend her honor, why else would she mention it?

"That's not necessary. I have a way to get even." She winked mischievously at him before continuing on towards the ice cream parlour. This girl was full of surprises. She genuinely encouraged him when he had other things to do, did not back down from a gun being pointed at her, worried about the person that had pointed the gun at her, fought her own battles and didn't let anyone get away with anything. He was sometimes annoyed by her but most of the time he found her oddly refreshing.

"If you're sure." He shrugged it off before following after her. She waited for him to catch up again at the door and he pulled it open for her, gesturing for her to go first. Her favorite hangout place was the ice cream parlour and he'd taken her twice now and she'd insisted on paying for herself both times. She saw him as just a friend and it irritated him. It wasn't that he was particularly interested in her as much he just wanted her to be interested in him.

"Let me pay this time." He whispered close to her ear, causing her to jump.

"Why? I can pay for myself." She tried to act as though she had just lost five years of her life.

"I want to pay this time." He stated stubbornly. "Friends occasionally pay for each other, don't they?" He was careful not to mention anything about it being a date because then he'd have no hope of getting her to agree to it.

"Well… I guess…" Aoko thought about it. "But I don't want you to think I'm just using you for your money." She finally confessed. How cute.

"If that's your concern then I'll let you pay for both of us next time." He stated, offering her an easy smile. He could see she was considering it but he couldn't push her anymore than he already had.

"Okay, fine. Have it your way." She finally conceded. "You can pay." He let her order first before ordering a simple vanilla ice cream, he followed her to a window seat and watched as she started to dig into her chocolate ice cream. Aoko taken care of, he turned his attention back to the problem nagging at the back of his mind-the missing piece. Nothing could link back to him, he'd made sure of it so why the unease? Was it simply because he needed to figure out his next move?

The fact that he'd been followed meant he'd somehow made it onto the suspect list, which irritated him as he was never supposed to be a suspect. How had L come that far?

"L-Light-kun?" Aoko's voice pulled him out of his thoughts and he stared at her, she looked concerned.

"Are you okay? You had a serious expression on your face." She pointed out. Light offered her a fake smile to ease her concern.

"I'm fine Aoko-chan. I was just thinking about my entrance exams." He lied smoothly. Aoko was in the middle of taking a spoonful of ice cream and nodded, clearly convinced by his answer. She wasn't hard to fool once she'd decided to trust him.

"Don't worry about it so much, I'm sure you'll get the highest score possible." Her smile was encouraging. He'd noticed she seemed to have a lot of different smiles-the one currently on her face was by far his favorite-it made him feel at ease which was the main reason he'd asked her out again today.

"If I manage to get the highest score would that convince you to go on a date with me?" He chanced asking, watching her as the spoon nearly slipped out of her grip. She looked immediately uncomfortable. She was going to turn him down.

Ryuk could stop laughing anytime he wanted.

"I-I don't know." she looked out the window. What was with this girl? Didn't girls like to be courted? It wasn't as if he was trying to make her uncomfortable or not treating her like a person. What did she want?

Ah.

The answer practically slammed into mind. The object of today's annoyance.

"Kuroba-kun." He stated simply. The name of her supposed friend that refused to respect her boundaries caused her to jerk her gaze his direction-cheeks suddenly red. She had feelings for Kuroba.

"Eh? It's-It's not like that." She could deny it, but now she was transparent-especially since he hadn't said anything other than the magician's name. What an annoyance. "I-Well… It's…" She stammered, trying to explain herself. She didn't have to.

"I won't pretend to understand." Light stated smoothly, taking a bite of his own ice cream. "You were just complaining about how he flipped your skirt, it's hard to see why you would like someone like that."

"I just said that wasn't it!" Aoko said insistently, he could tell by the redness in her cheeks it was like that.

"If that's not it then why do you continue to let him get away with it?" He asked pointedly. "It's obvious to me that he doesn't care enough to respect your wishes when you tell him to stop. It'd be easily seen as sexual harassment and you could press charges. Obviously your way of getting even is ineffective. "

Aoko shifted uncomfortably, it probably jarred her to think that Kuroba didn't care as much he let on but if this had been going on for years, as she had earlier suggested, then he clearly didn't. Light didn't really respect girls all that much but he had been raised to respect them well enough that he wouldn't force himself on them. Besides, such an animalistic way of proclaiming dominance over women was beneath him. He had other means of doing that.

"I don't-I don't think-that's kind of harsh isn't it?" She wasn't honestly about to try and defend him, was she?

"Not at all." Light stated calmly. "You told him to stop. He didn't. It's that simple."

"It's never that simple with Kaito though." Aoko stated sheepishly. She was trying to defend him. She was actually trying to defend Kuroba. Was he really the person that should be teaching her about consent?-that she deserved to be respected? It seemed ironic.

"Aoko." He dropped the honorific and leaned in a little closer. "It is that simple. You've made it clear to me that you don't like it when he does it." And to be perfectly honest Light didn't like the idea of it either but how could get her to see it his way? "Would you press charges if it were… let's say Kaitou Kid that flipped your skirt?"

"Of course I would!" Aoko responded immediately. "I don't want him touching me."

"But you do want Kuroba-kun to?" Light asked calmly, watching as Aoko's cheeks flushed bright red.

"Or course not!" She said angrily. "But Kaito is my friend, I know that he doesn't actually mean any harm. How did we wind up talking about this, anyway? It doesn't matter." But it did matter because she'd just admitted she only let Kaito get away with it because he was her friend. Because she thought it was harmless.

Damn this was irritating.

Whatever, It shouldn't matter to him if she didn't understand the harm in it. What mattered was that if Kuroba tried anything more than skirt flipping than he'd want to know about it.

"I'm sorry, I was just concerned he wasn't treating you very well." Light decided backing off for now would keep her from getting too mad. At his apology she seemed to relax and glanced out the window. Was he not treating her well? It was hard to imagine someone like her letting anyone mistreat her.

"He's been through a lot is all… that stage accident really affected him. I don't think he ever moved past it." Aoko finally stated. "And with Chikage-san in Vegas for now that only leaves me to keep him in line. Besides, he's not all bad. He's always willing to lend a hand to others and he's usually really nice."

It's a feeling of obligation, Light realised. She put up with it because she felt she was all he had and probably vice versa since her Dad was obsessed with catching Kid. Still. She may have been right where Kaito was concerned but Light didn't really care. It made sense that Aoko would see it that way-still saw it that way and how had this turned into a counseling session? All he had done was ask her on a date.

"Going on a date with me would not be abandoning him." Light stated calmly. "You'd still be friends, would you not?" Although it was hard to tell for sure if they could stay friends with Kuroba's jealousy issues if the other night was anything to go by. Aoko seemed to be thinking about it-did she want to say yes? "It's just one date." He coaxed. "And it's only if I get the highest score."

"What do you mean 'if'? You'll definitely get higher than anyone else." Aoko eyed him suspiciously. Light laughed in a good natured manner. Was she just being her usual encouraging self or did she have that much faith in his intelligence-that wasn't to say she was wrong to, if she did honestly believe he'd get the highest score as she was definitely right.

"Can't pull the wool over your eyes, can I?" ' _Just answer the question, Aoko.'_

"Nope! I'm actually very sharp!" She said all sunshine and smiles again. Light wasn't sure if he believed that yet, but if he said so she'd never agree to go on a date with him-although she had mentioned being tied for top of her class. Maybe she was sharp. "But… I guess… when you do get the highest marks, it wouldn't hurt anything to go on one date."

"I look forward to it." He smiled. At the very least, Aoko would make a good cover girlfriend just in case he needed one again and to keep it from being suspicious he'd have to actually date her. The only thing was that Kuroba could be a potential problem.

oooOOOooo

Shinichi's day started at four in the morning with a call from FBI agent Jodie Starling. He'd been waiting on her call ever since the broadcast about the twelve FBI agents Kira had murdered in cold blood. At the time, the FBI was in shambles and after assuring him their team was okay she told him to be on standby in case James wanted to pull him in as a consultant. Shinichi wasn't too sure how Edogawa Conan became a consultant for the FBI but as long as it stayed secret (and it would because Conan was a minor) then there was no harm in it. He doubted if he was even officially listed.

"James wanted me to tell you, the FBI is pulling their support on the Kira case." Jodie stated, arms crossed as Camel drove the car around Beika district. The news may have been more shocking if Shinichi had originally known the FBI was investigating Kira. "He said it was a hard decision but Kira is after criminals. Not law enforcement as long as they stay out of his way."

"So you're staying out of his way?" Shinichi asked, a little disappointed. It must have shown in his voice because Jodie felt the need to clarify.

"Only for now. Kira seems reluctant to hurt the innocent at the very least and James has decided that the Organisation is a far more pressing threat. If we were to continue to support the Kira case then it might hinder the investigation against them." She stated. It made sense. If the FBI stayed in Japan without publically pulling their support than Kira might get paranoid and kill the wrong team.

"I understand." Shinichi nodded. "The Organisation comes first because they aren't shy about hurting the innocent, correct?" Jodie nodded.

"It took a lot of persuasion but Camel and I managed to get permission to get this to you." She leaned forwards and collected a file from under the passenger's seat before handing it to him. Shinichi opened the file and looked down at the faces of some of the FBI agents that were recently killed. Why were they giving him this? Wasn't this something that should go to L? Or did Agents Jodie and Camel have that much faith in his abilities? Why did everyone seem to think he could handle Kira? Had they even paid attention to the case?

Kira killed Lind L. Tailor on regional television after being prompted. that suggested that Kira could kill remotely without being anywhere near his victims and seemed to require, at minimum a name and face to carry out his murders. It suggested something supernatural and while it was a fascinating concept it really just left a bad taste in his mouth. How was he supposed to do anything or make any progress when he'd spent his entire life disputing the existence of the supernatural?

No. What was he saying? There had to be a logical explanation. There had to be because what was the point of a detective if a murderer only needed a name and face to carry out the crime. What kind of evidence would that even leave behind?

"Do I get to keep this?" He chanced asking, thumbing through the file again. The answer had to be in here, didn't it? There was only one way Kira would have been able to get a hold of the identities of the FBI agents. The obvious answer was that he had access to the FBI database. However, in order to know to search the FBI database he'd have to known the FBI was investigating the case.

The FBI never publicly announced their involvement so in order for him to have found he had to have come in contact with at least one agent. That still didn't make sense though because even if the agent had been prompted to show his ID he should have a fake one for just such an occasion. The only reason an FBI agent would willingly show their ID to a stranger would be in a dire situation or the agent was an idiot. Possibly both.

"You can keep it at the Kudou House, that way it's still technically in the bureau's hands." Jodie explained. If you find anything let Shuu know and he'll relay that information to us."

"And from there it goes to L?" Shinichi asked. Jodie nodded. It wasn't surprising-if the states found out that the FBI let a minor look at top secret documents like this they might have something to say about it. "So does that mean you've met him? L, I mean?"

"Not me." Jodie shook her head. "But there's an agent that worked with him on the Los Angeles serial murder a year ago. I don't think she ever met him face to face. It's a shame though, one of the agents that died was her fiance."

"What's her name?" Shinichi asked. Maybe he could get her contact information? If Kira had just killed the person she intended to marry, and she was an FBI agent then he imagined she was feeling pretty motivated to catch him. It was a long shot but she might even be able to tell him if the agent had done anything peculiar or strange right before their death.

"Misora Naomi." Jodie supplied.

"Do you have a number to get a hold of her?." Shinichi went on to ask. Jodie considered the request. He knew it was asking a lot. This other FBI agent would be aware of the fact the head of the FBI frequently consulted a seven year old on cases but maybe he'd done just enough they'd grant him this request.

"If you really need to talk to her, I can give you her contact information." Jodie finally decided. Good. It would allow him at least one lead. He seriously doubted it'd go anywhere but one lead was a lot better than what he had now.

"I'll go over these at Shinichi-niichan's house then, and I'll call if I find anything." He promised, not wanting to look over anything in the car. He had to find Kira and then somehow figure out what to do from there which meant he couldn't have anyone moving in on Kira before he was ready.


	10. Naomi Misora

Misora Naomi was sure of two things-one that her Fiance had met Kira and that Kira could kill with more than just a heart attack. With these two things in mind she set about trying to confirm her suspicions and find some way to contact L. Ever since Raye's death Naomi had been ignoring calls from close friends and family but she kept the device on at all times under the hope that L would contact her again.

She'd noticed that she had a missed call from a fellow FBI agent but she didn't bother to do anything with it as she assumed it was more sympathy calls. She didn't know if she could stand another sympathy call. She got up early on New Years Eve and was in the middle of getting dressed after having taken a morning shower when there was a very insistent knock on her door. She thought very strongly about ignoring it but the person on the other end was so determined to get her attention that she finally gave in and pulled the door open.

At first, it seemed as though no one was there but a quick look down and she met eyes with a small child with dark hair and over-sized glasses. He was wearing a miniature letterman's jacket with a 'K' on the side. Was he lost? He didn't look lost.

"Hello!" He smiled brightly at her. Naomi glanced right and left in search of the child's parents. She didn't see them.

"Hello." She finally responded, watching him closely. "Can I help you?"

"Misora Naomi-san, right?" He asked. Naomi raised an eyebrow. How did this kid have her name and how did he find her? "I'm Edogawa Conan."

"Yes." She answered curtly, not sure she was in the mood to deal with this kid. She had things to do that didn't involve lost six year olds. Although now that she knew he'd been looking for her specifically she couldn't help but wonder: Would L send a child to establish contact? "If you don't mind my asking, who sent you here?"

"Agent Starling." She hadn't expected that answer. That missed call from Jodie must have been to warn her that she'd be receiving a small visitor. Why would she send a child though?. Was it to keep her from going after Kira herself? "She said that you were engaged to one of the agents that Kira killed."

"That's correct." This child had no tact and Jodie needed to avoid telling a six year old that kind of information. "Did Jodie-san send you here to deter me?" She asked. To her surprise, the boy-Conan-shook his head.

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about Mr. Penbar." He said nonchalantly. "I wanted to know if he'd done anything unusual right before his death." Naomi considered turning the child away but ultimately let out a sigh and grabbed her purse, stepping out of the room and letting the auto-lock click behind her.

"Since it's a hotel, there's nothing to eat so why don't we go to a diner?" She offered. He gave her an enthusiastic nod and once again she had to wonder what Jodie had been thinking to send a child to her. She started down the outside hallway and Conan followed after her.

They walked in silence to a little café not far from the hotel Naomi had been staying at. Conan order an orange juice and Naomi ordered a single cup of coffee. Conan fidgeted in his seat, clearly uncomfortable with the silence where there were things to discuss. Where exactly did Jodie find this kid?

"The truth is that I was on the bus that day." Conan confessed. He was? Naomi had asked the bus driver about the incident but the only thing he'd been able to confirm was that Raye was on the bus. "I was a little distracted by what was happening at the time but I thought it was an odd coincidence since most of Osoreda-san's actions that day don't make any sense."

Osoreda was the name of the bus hijacker that died in the incident and a possible Kira victim if her theories were correct. Was this child about to confirm that theory? She waited on him to clarify but he seemed to be thinking everything over in his head again.

"...He wanted the financial report of Tropical Land's profits the day previous, Osoreda did. That's not something you would think an amateur would ask for. He couldn't get money from the report alone right? And asking for the report in exchange for hostages is drawing attention to the fact he might try to rob Tropical Land later." Conan explained, poking at the ice in his glass of juice. "So his demands seemed kind of odd."

"That's why I think it must be that Kira can kill with more ways than just heart failure." Naomi admitted. "My Fiance told me that he'd had to show someone his badge that day and if that person were Kira-!"

"Maybe…" Conan seemed to be rolling the thought around in his head. "But that suggests that Kira can control a person up to the time of their death and that's the kind of deduction I have difficulty making." Well, at least he bothered to listen to her theory. "Although, to be honest I was thinking the only way Kira would know the FBI was in Japan is if he'd seen a badge. If Mr. Penbar unwittingly showed his badge to Kira then it fits-but then how did Kira get the names and faces of the other FBI agents? Despite what movies and television want you to think it's not that easy to hack into the FBI database undetected."

"That's why I think it might be possible that Kira can control people before their time of death-Raye would have been able to request the file that was sent to all the FBI agents." Naomi stated. Again, Conan frowned in consideration.

"It still feels like quite a jump in terms of logic."

"Not at all." Naomi assured him. "The station where-Where my fiance died there were four other cases of heart failure on that same day. It can't be a coincidence." Again, Conan seemed to be thinking about it. He seemed more and more convinced but the more convinced he seemed the more it seemed he wanted to deny it.

"In any case, I'm going to find L and let him know my suspicions. It's the least I can do for Raye and help stop Kira." She decided. Conan sipped at his juice and didn't bother to tell her not to. She could tell by the look on his face that he didn't think it was quite time to seek out L with that theory but he didn't know how L worked and she did.

An insistent ringing erupted from the small child's pocket and at least he apologised before answering it. Naomi could hear the stern voice from across the table and deduced that Conan was in trouble. He apologised to his 'Ran-neechan' and hung up before looking up apologetically.

"Unfortunately, I have to head back home. I forgot to leave a note at the agency so Ran-neechan's pretty mad. Thank you for talking with me though!" He chirped, taking a few final sips of his orange juice before sliding out of the booth.

"Thank you." Naomi smiled at the child. He had just helped her investigation a lot.

"Mm! Oh um-it probably goes without saying but you shouldn't give anyone your real name, okay? And don't tell anyone we had this conversation!" He offered a cheerful wave and he was out the door. Of course that went without saying-she already had a fake name ready to use.

oooOOOooo

Yagami Light was sure of two things; one that if there was a God they were clearly on Kira's side, and Two, women were very easily seduced (most of them, anyway). He found his missing loose end practically waiting for him at the police station when it had only been by chance that he offered to take his father a change of clothes in Sayu's place. The 'her' that Penbar had been worried about. If this woman hadn't gotten nosy then he would have left her alone.

It was easy to get her to talk. She'd been so desperate to discuss her theories on the case that just tiny nudge in the right direction was all he needed to get her to spill everything she knew and label herself a high-level risk that needed to be dealt with immediately. The only problem was that now that he was done with her and ready to send her on her way to her death it became apparent that Shouko Maki was not the woman's real name at all.

Ryuk had offered more than once to trade eyes with him and for a moment Light considered it but he refused to give up half his life to kill this one woman. She wasn't worth that. What kind of woman was she? She was small built so it seemed like he could probably take her purse by force if he had to but that kind of desperate thinking was dangerous and could very easily get him trouble. No, he had to take his time and get her to show him her ID on her own. He'd already shut off his phone but that still only left him five minutes before they reached the station. Five minutes to get the woman's real name. He was smart. He'd think of something.

He continued to walk behind her in silence, hands in his pockets and contemplating some way he could convince her to trust him with her name. If this kept up-if she was able to reach the station and contact the investigators it was over. He couldn't kill her without her real name and already it was only about three minutes to the station. He needed to stall her somehow.

"Um-!" He felt his mouth moving.

"Yes?" She stopped to look at him.

"The truth is, it's impossible to contact the investigators." He lied smoothly.

"Oh?" He couldn't act unnatural now, he'd just have to keep her there somehow-nail her down and never let her go. He could do it. It wouldn't be hard.

"Do you think it's weird that there is nobody at the headquarters?" Light asked. The woman paused to think about it.

"Well, it is a bit strange." She stated.

"This is because the Kira Task Force is using the 'empty fort' strategy." The look on her face told him she believed him so he went on. "If we don't use this kind of concealment method there might be more victims like your husband."

"I understand." She responded sullenly.

"That's why they said there's nobody at headquarters. You'll never be able to contact them." He watched the look on her face fall.

"Hehe, Light. You're such a smooth talker." He heard Ryuk chuckling in his ear. The stupid shinigami needed to keep his mouth shut. This was a crucial moment for him.

"How do you know this?" She asked, eying him suspiciously. Light had to think fast.

"That is because… I guess I'll have to tell you… it's because I am a member of that investigation team."

"You're a member?"

"Yes." Light confirmed. "L is in charge now."

"Yes, there's surprise there." The woman stated. He needed to keep talking, to make it seem as though he really was part of the investigation.

"L has been troubled by the lack of progress lately. Mostly because many investigators quit out of fear of Kira." Information he'd only recently gotten from his father. It was good to be able to put it to use. "Even though I'm still in high school, I've solved many difficult cases before. I just haven't been public about it like some of the other detectives. That's why I can casually walk in and out of the head quarters as a person recognised as part of the team."

"So, talking to you is like talking to the investogatio-no, L." She asked, watching him carefully. If that's what she wanted to hear. "That's enough then, I've told L everything." He couldn't let her leave yet. He still didn't have her name!

"I worked under L to solve a case two years ago in the states. Even though we only communicated through the computer I believe there's no case L cannot solve." She stated. She'd worked under L directly? That was even more reason to get rid of her.

"Working under L?"

"That's because I used to be an FBI agent until three months ago." She revealed. Good. Finally something he could use.

"No wonder. The way you handle Kira's case is very professional. I can learn a lot from you." Light encouraged.

"I've begun to suspect people from within the Japanese police but I believe L will solve this case. That's why I've come here to contact the team." Now that he knew what to say this would be almost too easy.

"I see…" He stated, feigning concern. "But why would you tell me all the things that you're going to tell L?" She was silent a moment, maybe wonder that herself.

"I couldn't see the list of names of the people on the team. You told me you were the chief's son and gave me your name. And…" She paused, considering what she wanted to say. "You give me the same feeling as L." She finally confessed. It wasn't anything Light expected but he could certainly use that to his advantage.

"Let's work on this case together." He offered.

"What?"

"Become a member of our team, this way you can speak directly with L. No, you can catch Kira yourself." He held his hand out to her with a an encouraging smile. She was sure to jump on that offer. "My dad recommended me to the team because I wanted to help with the investigation since the team needed more people and I happened to be qualified.

"We need someone like you. You're not just any investigator you worked with the FBI-you're more than qualified for this team. The conditions to join are a valid and secure identification, a recommendation from a member already on the team and L's approval. Fate must want you to be on the team!" He had her, right where he wanted her. There was no escape now.

oooOOOooo

Kudou Shinichi was sure of just one thing; he officially hated the Kira case. His chat with Naomi had been enlightening but had mainly reminded him just how far out of his depth this case really was. According to her, Kira could control a victim up to the time of their death. He didn't know if he was ready accept that as true or not but he did know that he needed a little more research. If that were truly what was happening here then there should be evidence to support it, right?

Nothing about the case even started to sound logical. It sounded crazy. He was now considering the idea that someone could completely control the actions of another before death. In his experience as a detective he'd come across several cases in which the deceased's actions were predicted but never outright controlled. He took a deep breath to calm himself and looked around the subway station that Raye Penbar had died in. He was supposed to have gone home to the agency but instead he took this detour. He'd apologise later.

He'd asked around already and found that there had been a storekeeper in the area that died of a heart attack. Incidentally one with a criminal record. Misora's theory was starting to hold water. Shinichi wasn't sure how he felt about that.

Assuming that Raye Penbar was the FBI agent that had shown Kira their badge then it left a rather small suspect list as there weren't that many people on the bus that day and even fewer that could be Kira. There was an elderly couple at the front that were exempt simply because Penbar never ventured that far. The only two that could have seen the FBI badge were Yagami Light and his girlfriend, Nakamori Aoko. Could one of them be Kira? The file that the FBI had loaned him had listed the Yagami household as one under surveillance most likely because Kira had to have access to the police database. Following what he had so far it seemed the most likely that Yagami was Kira.

However, it still felt like jumping to a conclusion-and not just jumping this was a running start, giant leap to a conclusion that Shinichi just wasn't comfortable with. Regardless, he'd have to keep some kind of eye on Yagami without anyone noticing. As irritating as the idea of someone with power to control someone before their death was, the idea of the black organisation with that power was terrifying.

A chill shot down his spine and he glanced around as though someone had been watching him. He didn't see anyone and continued down to the very spot that Raye Penbar died right outside the subway. There had to be cameras in the area, didn't there? After all, it was a subway. His gaze looked upwards towards an ideal spot to have a camera and he frowned. How could he get ahold of that security footage? Tell the security guard that Kogoro had asked or possibly call the police as himself and request a favor? Considering the risks, he should probably avoid calling as Kudou. Chiba had already told him that things were a mess and he didn't want to accidentally talk to an organisation member. He could always ask Jodie. The FBI might have even already confiscated the tapes in question.

He was so engrossed in his thoughts he failed to notice the shadow creeping closer until it was hovering right over him. He spun around in alarm but was only met with a blinding pain to the side of his head. He felt his chin connect with the ground and tried to get a glimpse of who had just attacked him but his vision was far too out of focus and quickly darkening.


	11. Ransom

"Yagami-kun, you haven't seen Conan-kun have you?" This was not a phone call that Light had expected. He'd been home several hours since saying a final farewell to the woman Misora Naomi and he had intended on spending the rest of his day relaxing. But one single phone call from Mouri Ran ruined that. "He was supposed to have been home hours ago and he never made it." How irritating.

"No, do you know where he was when you last spoke with him?" He easily feigned his concern.

"No. He left this morning before anyone was awake and didn't leave a note. He never leaves a note. He's worse than Shinichi!" She complained. Light wasn't sure who Shinichi was but if he was being compared to Conan then he probably didn't want to know.

"Please calm down Mouri-san, have you spoken with him at all today?" He pressed. It was probable that Conan just found something to stick his nose in that he really probably shouldn't have.

"Yes. Earlier today when I told him to come home. I tried calling him again but it went straight to voicemail. I'm worried something's happened to him." Ran explained. That much was obvious. It probably wasn't completely impossible that Conan was perfectly fine and just didn't come home when he said he would. Although he had to have known that would make Ran worry and if he had a crush on her then that was likely something he didn't want to do. Conan was inconsiderate but he couldn't be that inconsiderate.

"If you're calling me I'll assume you've called all his friends."

"Yes, they haven't seen him either." Her voice trembled and Light grit his teeth.

Damn. He was going to have to help find Conan as it was definitely something Yagami Light would do. Or maybe it wasn't such a bad thing. He hadn't seen the kid since the bus hijacking and if he found him first perhaps he could find out what Conan knew.

"I'll meet you at your father's and we can go over it there, alright?" He suggested. At her agreement he hung up the phone, grabbed his jacket, quickly explained the situation to his mother and left the house.

It took some time to get to the Mouri Detective Agency considering they were almost on opposite ends of Tokyo but when he finally got there Ran was on the phone-gripping it tightly. It would be rude to interrupt so he stood off to the side and observed her-her knuckles were white, there was definite fear in her eyes and he could tell she was shaking. Who was she talking to?

"Shinichi! Conan-kun's been kidnapped!" Kidnapped? Light watched her. Since when had they upgraded from missing to kidnapped? Had someone called in a ransom?

"Ran-san." He greeted once she'd hung up the phone. "I couldn't help but overhear-"

"I was afraid this would happen." She gushed immediately, clearly worried about her young charge. "Our clients lately have gotten so desperate-someone's kidnapped Conan-kun. They want my dad to solve a murder in exchange for his safety." Ran said shakily. Clients. Light zeroed in on the word. As in this sort of thing had happened more than once.

"He wouldn't even say what the case was-he just gave dad an address." Ran was still saying. The Address was likely the scene of the crime or related to it at the very least. Why did it have to be Conan that was the kidnap victim? Conan was good at this kind of thing. Light saw himself as more of a chess master. The others were the pieces that he could move or remove as he wished. This kidnapper was about to be removed.

"How long has it been since Conan was kidnapped?" He chanced asking. Ran thought about it. She probably didn't know the exact time if she hadn't seen him all day but Light was willing to bet that Conan had taken a detour home and that was where he ran into trouble.

"I think it must have been at least a few hours ago." Ran stated. "The kidnapper said something troubling over the phone that suggested it was a while ago."

"And what was that?" Light gently pressed.

"My dad asked to hear Conan-kun's voice like you're supposed to do in these situations. He wouldn't let him because Conan-kun was still unconscious." Still unconscious. He could easily see how that statement would be concerning. However his thoughts flashed back to the murder that 'he' solved. It could easily be a tactic.

"This is the child that has foiled the Kaitou Kid, right? Couldn't it be that he was faking? He might be waiting for a chance to escape." It wasn't his job to play the part of comfort but his words did seem to successfully console her for now and Light moved around to the empty swivel chair at Mouri Kogoro's desk. There was a notepad right by the telephone and he assumed the detective had jotted down the address and ran off to solve the case.

He picked up the pencil to reveal the address and head that way himself but stopped when Ran's phone sprang to life. She jumped and flipped it open.

"It-It's from Shinichi." She stammered, after a moment of silence she decided she should read it aloud. "Sorry, I can't get to Beika right now but I'm sure he'll be fine." She read off the message and then groaned. "Did he even listen to my voicemail?" Light tuned her out and went back to retrieving the address but was interrupted again when the agency door burst open.

"Ignorin' my calls are ya!?" A dark skinned boy close in age with Light himself steamrolled his way in followed by a girl around Ran's age with her hair in a ribbon.

"Heiji! You can't just go bargin' inta people's houses! Yer mother would be appalled!" They both had very obvious kansai accents.

"The least ya could do is text me that yer busy-...Neechan?" 'Heiji' seemed to have noticed something was amiss.

"Hattori-kun, Kazuha-chan." Ran stood bewildered at her sudden visitors. "You were coming to visit?"

"Yeah. Kud-I-I mean Conan-kun was supposed to have told ya."

"Mou…" Ran groaned at him. "Why do you always get Conan-kun and Shinichi mixed up like that?"

"I can't help it! He looks just like'm!" Hattori defended himself. The exchange caught Light's interest though. Did that mean the Shinichi that Ran had just received a text from was none other than Kudou Shinichi? Famed High School Detective? Light had assumed the the rumour of Kudou's death was true. Apparently not.

"Mou…" Kazuha rolled her eyes at who Light was sure was Hattori Heiji of the west. "There's ten years difference between them, dumbass. Ne, Conan-" She paused, noticing for the first time that Conan was not at the agency.

"Conan-kun's not here." Ran admitted. "Actually, Kazuha-chan…"

"WHAT!? KIDNAPPED?!" Hattori demanded once everyone had been introduced and he'd been filled on everything that had happened. Light resisted the urge to roll his eyes. This person was loud. "And ya couldn't just find him with th' glasses?" Ran shook her head.

"Agasa and Ai-chan went to a convention in Gunma, we can't get a hold of them." Everyone seemed to understand the reference. Light however just felt irritatingly lost.

"Excuse me, glasses?" He interrupted. Everyone in the room looked at one another and then back to Light.

"Yeah, Ku-Conan's got these glasses that ya trace him with if he gets lost." Hattori explained. Tracking glasses. "But surely someone's got a spare key?" Somehow, Light wasn't surprised to learn that Conan had such a thing.

"Um… Conan-kun and Shinichi do."

"Oh yeah!" Kazuha suddenly brightened. "Why don't ya call Kudou-kun? I bet he could find him in no time!" Ran shook her head.

"I called Shinichi but-"

"Naw, Kudou ain't gonna be able to answer right now." Hattori interrupted.

"Actually, he texted back a few minutes later and said he couldn't make it to Beika, ne Yagami-kun?" Ran stated.

"He did?" Hattori seemed surprised by that revelation.

"Aa. That's right." He nodded in agreement. "What makes you think Kudou-san wouldn't be able to answer Ran-san's call?" Hattori had been awfully quick to jump to that conclusion.

"Uh-Kudou is… Outta the country right now! Workin' on a real important case. Can't be bothered-or so he told me." The hesitation was dismissed by the girls but not Light. Hattori was lying.

"I see." Light pretended to accept the answer. "If anyone is interested, I do have the address that Detective Mouri went to."

Traveling with Ran was one thing but the other two couldn't keep from fighting. It reminded him very strongly of Aoko and Kuroba when they were in a room together. Intolerable. Speaking of Aoko though, he gave her a quick call once he had the chance and let her know that he didn't think he'd make the movie tomorrow and in the interest of impressing her with his honesty, told her exactly why. She did exactly what he expected she'd do; worried about Conan and encouraged him to find the kidnapper.

oooOOOooo

Shinichi did not usually need to be rescued. What he usually needed was a solid plan to incapacitate his kidnapper and maybe something slightly stronger than aspirin for the headache he now had. He didn't think it was anything to be too concerned about-he wasn't nauseous, there were no odd shapes in his vision, and he still had feeling in his hands and feet but that guy certainly hadn't been trying not to give him a concussion.

He struggled against the binds behind his back and wriggled his legs to try and free them. He wasn't going to stay tied up-he had things he really needed to be doing that did not involved being victimized. A little more wriggling and Shinichi became aware of something warm and wet seeping into his clothes before he knocked against something solid and warm. 'I sure hope that's water.' Shinichi thought to himself in regard to the wet feeling invading into his jacket. He doubted it-it was way too thick but until he could get a good look around he'd just have to try to be optimistic about it.

It took more effort than Shinichi really wanted to expel to sit himself up properly and get a look around the room. It was dark and he could only see mostly shadows. He squinted in the dark, trying to see if the vague outline of his kidnapper was around anywhere but it was just a little too dark. What time was it? If it was still daylight then that might suggest a basement or cellar of some kind. Unfortunately there was no way for him to know because someone had felt the need to hit him over the head.

With an irritated groan Shinichi forced himself over to the thing he'd bumped into-careful not to fall over it. Once he could indeed identify that it was a body he twisted around- found the arm and scooted awkwardly down to the wrist. First thing was first-check for life and then figure out how to get out of his binds. As he had feared, there was no pulse. Since the body had been warm he'd hoped that maybe it wasn't too late but now it was apparent there was nothing he could do for the victim other than solve the murder.

He needed to get out of his binds so that he could find the murderer and make sure that they wound up in jail. He scooted back up to where a pocket might be and tried to see if the victim had been carrying anything that might help him to escape. The first pocket had what was probably a receipt and not much else other than lint. Not much use. He scooted up again, this time to the breast pocket but the only thing there were business cards.

A little more grunting and a lot more energy spent and Conan made it to the other side of pockets. He checked right pant pocket first and found a wallet and the jagged edge of a key. He could use this! Very carefully, he pulled the key out of the victim's pocket and went to work on slowly sawing through the gummy tape confining his hands. It was a long and tedious process but he wasn't interrupted and he managed to get the tape off.

He pressed the button on the side of his glasses to enable the night vision setting and glance around, finally able to see what was in the room with him other than a dead body. The room was spacious and there were thin support beams all around so his location was likely the basement of some kind of warehouse-unused by the look of it. The exit was several feet back. Most kidnappers would have just dropped him at the foot the stairs and locked the door. However this one didn't. He put him farther back and with all the struggling Shinichi had to do to even bump into the victim he'd guess there was a good bit of distance left between them-a meter at the very least. Why so much space?

Oh well. He could ask those questions later. It soon became obvious though that the kidnapper had taken his 'Conan phone' but left him with 'Shinichi's.' It wasn't surprising-not too many people carried around two phones and certainly not children. It was at least a small comfort that the kidnapper had no idea who they'd kidnapped.

He felt a stab of guilt at the messages Ran had left him. If he'd only just gone home like she'd asked some hours ago he probably wouldn't be here. But then again this mystery might never have gotten solved. Ran would understand. He powered off the night vision and clicked the watch light on.

He couldn't really call her at present in case the kidnapper came back and caught him on the phone, instead he sent off a rapid fire text stating he couldn't make it to Beika and that he was sure Conan would be fine. He slipped the phone back in his pocket and looked down at the body again. He wasn't sure if the victim died from shock or blood loss but he was sure that he'd been shot three times at a distance. The style of suit he was wearing suggested he was a businessman. Shinichi sifted through the pockets and pulled out the business cards again to get a good look at one.

"Sunny Finances." He read aloud to no one in particular. There was a phone number printed on the front and the name: Tatsuya Koji. CEO. He put the business card back where he found it and moved over to the pocket the wallet had been in and pulled that out. The name on the driver's license matched the name on the card. This was Tatsuya Koji. He didn't have time for much more investigating though as the familiar but unwelcome smell of smoke started to invade the room.

"Seriously?!" He complained aloud.

Shinichi expected that the door would be locked-he did not expect it to burn his hand upon touching it. That meant something hot was on the other side and he was pretty sure he knew what it was. He looked down at space between the door. It was hard to see with it so dark but he was sure smoke was seeping into the room. Why in the world would you kill someone, kidnap someone and then kill the kidnap victim in a fire. Did that make any sense?

Thinking about it made his head hurt worse and pulled his phone again. Well if his kidnapper-now attempted murderer was trying to burn the building down it was unlikely he was going to come back and check on him-meaning that he had time to make a phone call.

Kudou Shinichi didn't usually need to be rescued but in this case he was willing to make an exception. Unfortunately his options were a bit limited if all he had to use was 'Shinichi's' phone. There was the added fun of having no idea where he was and 'in a burning building' was only descriptive enough once the fire got big enough to be spotted and depending on where it started that could be too late.

No choice. He'd have to find a way out on his own.

oooOOOooo

Hattori Heiji was pissed. Someone had kidnapped his best friend and gave Mouri Kogoro demands to solve the murder of the guy currently dead on the floor of a condo. The man had been strangled with a belt-windpipe crushed over seven hours ago which coincided with the time Kudou had been kidnapped.

He didn't need anyone to help him solve the case but everyone seemed to want to help. Of course they did-as far as they knew, it wasn't Kudou Shinichi that was kidnapped but Edogawa Conan who was only seven and 'still unconscious'. But Hattori knew that if Kudou Shinichi had texted Neechan that it meant he was awake and well enough to send text messages. The reason he didn't call was probably because he couldn't without risking getting caught with a phone.

To make matters worse it seemed as though someone had already called in the police as officers Sato and Takagi were on the scene interviewing who Heiji assumed was the person that found the body. She was a woman in her early thirties and from what he had gathered she lived next door. She heard the commotion going on next door but just ignored it as apparently the victim was a very noisy neighbor. It wasn't until after she'd heard some dishes breaking and then someone running out that that she went to check on her neighbor. By that time he was dead.

There was no shortcut involved here. They were going to have to solve the case before they could find Kudou. At least he could count on Kudou to gain control of the situation and rescue himself. While Kudou was busy with that he could solve the case and find the identity of the murderer and the kidnapper. At some point, they'd probably run into Kudou because he'd no doubt get caught up in the mystery and completely forget to call once he'd gotten out safe.

"It's a bit strange that Conan-kun isn't here." Sato was saying. Heiji glanced at the older detective and Ran to see their reaction. In these situations the kidnapper usually didn't want the police involved.

"He went camping with his friends." Ran stated quickly. "He'll be upset he missed this though-you know how he loves to play detective." Sato looked at her critically. Was she about to figure it out?

"Anycase, who is our victim?" Heiji interjected before Ran could admit the real reason Conan wasn't around.

"Aa, meet Hisao Daiichi. Vice president of Suny Financial." Takagi was saying. "The landlord said he generally kept to himself and was only here on weekends-usually with a girl friend. The neighbors often complained he was too loud."

Heiji returned his attention to the crime scene and glanced around, mind piecing together the series of events that must have occurred. The room was in disarray so it was safe to assume a struggle of some kind had happened. The kitchen was a mess-chairs overturned, dishes broken and glasses knocked over. Two glasses. One with ridges down its side with a smudge of lipstick by the lip and the other smooth and clear.

"There are lipstick marks on this glass." Yagami Light-Neechan's new friend? pointed to it. He'd already noticed that. The glass did concern him but not for the reason anyone in the room was probably thinking. "But it's a little odd the type of glasses don't match, isn't it?"

"Yeah, and the fact it's only layin' on the ground makes me think it was planted." Apparently someone had caught onto why the glass was suspicious. "Plus if the struggle happened in the kitchen it's weird that the victim is layin' in the middle o' th' floor over there. It's pretty clear t' me that someone is tryin' to frame someone."

"So then… is it the murderer or the lady that has Conan-kun?" Ran chanced asking. Hattori shrugged. At this point he couldn't tell. That wasn't entirely true. He doubted very much that anyone had Kudou at this point.

"Dunno." Heiji admitted cleanly. "What I do know is that this man was havin' an affair." He stated flatly.

"What? How can ya be sure?" Kazuha asked. "Th' Landlord said he just had a girlfriend around."

"Yeah. But this is the CEO of a financial company. He's got an expensive watch, expensive suit, expensive dining set up-yet he's livin' in this dump." Heiji pointed out. "It means that he didn' want someone t' recognise him an' his mistress."

"Ya can't say he's havin' an affair based on that." Kazuha rolled her eyes. "Maybe he was just livin' below his means?"

"With a watch an' suit like that? No way. He had expensive tastes an' wanted ta show it off. Besides, he was only here on the weekends, remember? So he wasn't livin' here on a regular basis." Heiji was saying. "This is obviously his place fer him an his missus t' come get away."

"I agree with Hattori." A voice interrupted, everyone turned quickly to the front door. "This is more than likely an affair."

"Shi-Shinichi…" Ran stumbled over the name.


	12. Secrets (Light)

There was something that Ryuk found absolutely hilarious. He couldn't stop laughing. He'd try to calm himself down but then start cackling a new. What the Hell did the Shinigami find so amusing?

"Kudou!" Hattori of the west exclaimed loudly, rushing over and gripping the newly arrived detective by the arm and steering him to face away from the others. They were whispering amongst themselves about something and Light needed to know what it was. He stood awkwardly by the two girls who were also whispering about something-something to do with Big Ben? Not as interested in their conversation he tried to sneak up to the other two.

"Kudou Shinichi-san, isn't it?" He ventured over to the two. They seemed to freeze on the spot-suddenly stiff. They were definitely up to something. "Back from overseas?"

Kudou shot a look at Hattori who just looked sheepish. They were setting their story straight. "A-Aa. I had a case out of the country and just got back. I thought I'd solve the mystery of the missing little detective." Kudou was quick to respond. Light wasn't impressed.

"Shinichi." Ran's voice came from behind Light and she was approaching the 'Missing' Detective. Her voice was shaky and Light could tell she was holding back a waterfall of tears. Perhaps Kudou could too as he seemed even more stiff and uncomfortable than earlier.

"Y-Yo, Ran…" Kudou said awkwardly, all eyes now on him and Ran.

"I'm so glad you decided to help us." She stated. "I'm so worried about Conan-kun." Before he had the chance to stop her, Ran threw her arms around Shinichi's neck and he took a half-step backwards to catch her weight.

"So you're the famous Kudou Shinichi?" Light questioned, watching him closely and trying to ignore Ryuk's cackling. Was he amused at how many people were out looking for one kid? The awkward tension between Ran and Kudou? Or something he'd like to know about?

"Aa, that's right." 'Shinichi' nodded with a confident smirk. "Savior of the Japanese Police force and Sherlock Holmes of the Modern era."

"It's pleasure to meet you. I'm Yagami Light." Light nodded his head. "I'm glad to see the rumours of your death were exaggerated."

"He's just been working on a very important case and staying out of the spotlight. But he's still the same cases-freak-jerk he's always been." Ran supplied. Kudou rolled his eyes.

"Sorry this 'Cases-freak-jerk' has been busy keeping Japan safe for the Karate nut." He poked her nose and Ran blushed. Hattori was staring at them suspiciously and Ryuk was still laughing like he couldn't stop.

What. Was. Going. On?

Before Light could lose his temper over the whole situation a cheerful ringing erupted from Hattori's pocket and all eyes snapped to the Osakan. He looked back at Kudou with a raised eyebrow but the conversation distracted him enough that he didn't say whatever it was he was thinking.

"WHAT?" He let out much louder than necessary. "Aw Jeez." He let a sigh sounding like this was more a minor annoyance than something to be that worried about. "Wait. That doesn't make sense. Why would he bother t' do somethin' like that?"

"Who is it?" Kazuha demanded, giving Hattori a look for answering the call in the middle of an important investigation.

"K-Conan-kun. It's Conan-kun." Hattori quickly rattled off like they all should have known that. Light somehow wasn't surprised and Ryuk started cackling even harder. What was he missing? He watched as Ran immediately snatched up the phone and stuttered the missing child's name in near disbelief.

"C-Conan-kun? Is that you?" She questioned. "Are you okay?" She sighed and relief and Light assumed that he probably told her he was fine. He was well enough to call so that should have told her he was fine. "We're going to find you okay? Shinichi's going to help."

At her words Hattori tugged the phone away again and put it back against his ear. "Aa, it's me." He affirmed. He nodded once and looked over Kudou's way. "Yeah, sure." He held the phone out to him. "He wants to talk to you."

Kudou took the phone without question and put it up against his ear. "Hello? Conan-kun?" he prompted. He offered a small pause and presumably Conan was talking to him. "Of course." He was saying. "But Conan-kun, I need to know if you can tell me your location-any windows you can see out of?"

They shouldn't be treating him like a kid. If he knew Conan half as well as he thought he did, Light was sure Conan would already be on his way back. He was the one calling after all. Light watched as Kudou's eyes flickered towards the phone pressed against his ear-obviously considering something Conan was saying. "On fire!?" He exclaimed suddenly, gaining several alarmed looks from everyone. "Hang on." He pulled the phone away from his ear. "Conan-kun says that he and kidnapper's victim are trapped in a burning building."

That was certainly an interesting statement. Ryuk seemed to find it hysterical. He was going to end up close 'friends' with these people purely because they seemed to greatly amuse the shinigami.

"Eh!?" Ran took the phone again. "Hello? Hello, Conan-kun? Why didn't you say the building was on fire? How can you say you're okay?"

"What does he mean he's with the victim?" Light and Hattori asked as the phone transferred back to Ran. Kudou shrugged.

"Neechan-could ya tell Ku-ah-Conan-kun that the victim is dead on th' floor o' this apartment?" Hattori requested. Ran shot him a glare but did as asked. "So if th' kidnapper's victim is here. Who does Ku-I mean-Conan-kun have with him?" The three boys all exchanged glances. The answer hit them all like a ton of bricks.

"A-Aa… this might be a problem." Hattori started.

"Eh? Why?" Ran looked over at the them.

"Because the victim Conan-kun's with is more than likely his kidnapper." Light stated solemnly. He watched as Ran's face paled and Kudou put a hand on her shoulder. Not only did they have to solve the case that happened at the apartment but they had to solve a murder without access to the body. In other words, it didn't look good for little Edogawa Conan.

"May I?" Light gestured to the phone. Ran seemed reluctant but handed it over anyway. Her eyes were welling up with tears again and Light tried not to seem callous as he turned away from everyone. If Conan died in that fire he wouldn't have to worry about the possible threat he posed. But did he really have it in him to let a _child_ die? Especially that one. It'd be such a waste of intelligence.

"Conan-kun, this is Light." He explained. There was a moment of coughing on the other end which must have been why Ran was so worried.

"Light-niichan?" Conan's voice came through on the other end. He sounded okay at the very least.

"Yes. What can you tell us about the victim?" He got straight to the point. There was an awkward silence on the other end and Light wondered if perhaps Conan were considering not telling them.

"Male, middle-aged. Near-sighted with expensive lenses-expensive watch. The business card in his pocket lists him as a CEO of a company." Good. Just as he would expect of Edogawa Conan.

"Is that company by any chance sunny financial?" Light questioned.

"Aa. I'm guessing the victim on your end had a similar card?" Conan confirmed with a small cough.

"Yes. We have the vice president-he was strangled and it looks like someone tried to frame a woman for the crime." He gave the smaller a moment to cough again.

"Did the victim have a wedding ring?" He asked. Light had to think about it-he couldn't recall seeing one.

"I don't believe so." Conan was quiet a moment as he was no doubt thinking the information over.

"In anycase, it's not a coincidence that the CEO and Vice President of the same financial company are dead."

"That's what we think as well." Light turned to see the other two detectives who seemed to be whispering furiously about something. "The your kidnapper's victim was having an affair-since he's not married it's a safe bet to say the mistress is."

"If my kidnapper killed him it was probably _his_ wife." Conan mused between coughs. He was most likely correct with how things had stacked up. "But you should ask Heiji-niichan because I'm just a kid." Light grit his teeth. He could die in that fire for all he cared.

"If that is the case, then it's probably safe to say that you're in the 'Sunny Financial' building."

"I'm not sure about that." Conan coughed. "It's definitely some kind of public use building but the basement is empty and no longer in use."

"Officer's Sato and Takagi are getting a financial report. Perhaps the company recently tanked?" Light offered. Conan was coughing again, this time a little more violently. "...Stay low and try not to inhale too much smoke." He advised.

"Mm." Conan offered. "Could you hand the phone back to Heiji-niichan now?" Light considered refusing and asking for more information regarding the case but ultimately returned to the phone to its proper owner.

"Aa." Hattori grunted into the phone upon pressing it to his ear. "Aa. Yeah, I can do that." He said with a nod. "No problem' Ku-Ah-Conan-kun." He hung up the phone and turned to Officer's Sato and Takagi.

"K-ah-Conan-kun says t' go to the president's place an' see if th' wife has been there." Hattori stated. "K-Kudou an' I will catch up with ya there."

"What about Conan-kun!?" Ran demanded. "He said that building's on fire-how much longer has he got?"

"He's fine Neechan, K-Kudou an' I are gonna go find him. Promise." Hattori assured her. Light narrowed his eyes. Conan wasn't sure of his location so how did-ah. They were going to get the tracking device.

"Might I volunteer myself to the rescue squad?" He offered. There was some kind of conspiracy going on here he could almost feel it. Kudou and Hattori exchanged glances. They were thinking about refusing. He could read it in their awkward stance. There was something they didn't want him to know.

"..Er… Yeah. I guess that'd be alright." Hattori finally decided, shooting Kudou an apologetic look. If Light didn't think they were trying to hide something before he was sure of it now. Did Ryuk know and that was why he was laughing?

"Come on. We have to hurry." Kudou stated firmly before heading to the stairs to lead the way. Hattori grumbled something under his breath that Light didn't quite catch but followed after him.

oOoOoOo

Shinichi could have already broken the door down and made an escape. He still had his shoes and he still had his belt-it'd be easy to knock the door in but if there was a fire directly on the other side then what?. He'd have to wait on Hattori to show up. Considering that he might not have even that much time he set about exploring the basement a little more, clicking his wrist watch light on and venturing farther into the big empty space. What had this room been for? Storage, obviously but it seemed that the owner of the building never used it to its full potential. Unless the real use was to hide bodies. He flicked the watch towards the dead victim.

He certainly wasn't going to be of any help. Conan moved the watch light over to the walls, looking for perhaps another room further in. If nothing else it would put more space between him and the fire. There had to be at least one but right now he wondering if this building was even finished. Whatever, there had to be at least some way out.


	13. Secrets (Kaito)

Kaito did not usually do things like this. He usually trusted the detective to handle himself just as the detective trusted the infamous Kaitou Kid to handle himself. They had an unspoken agreement where that was concerned and if truth be told this had nothing to do with any of that and everything to do with the fact that Yagami had gotten a little too cozy with Aoko if he was calling just to check in. Aoko hadn't even told him they were still in contact after the whole charity ball. He'd thought that Yagami would have lost interest after that. Apparently he was wrong.

It was selfish and stupid yes, and if the detective were to find out about the real reason behind Kaitou Kid's assistance on this matter it might lead him to the thief's real identity but he needed to to evaluate Yagami for Aoko's safety. He'd called and canceled their plans because a certain miniature detective got himself kidnapped (somehow that wasn't surprising) and said he going to help find the kidnapper.

It didn't take much to catch up to the others and just as he got to the top of the stairs his eyes fell on the opened door blocked off with crime scene tape. Sources indicated this was where he'd find the others.

"I agree with Hattori." A voice interrupted, everyone turned quickly to the front door. "This is more than likely an affair."

"Shi-Shinichi…" Ran stumbled over the name, staring in disbelief. He should have known Ran would be here. This could get messy.

"Kudou!" Hattori of the west seemed to just light up at the sight of his Eastern Counterpart. He hurried over gripping Kaito by the arm and steering him away from the others. Not the most subtle way of going about things. "Are ya sure it's a good idea t' be here like that? I mean, I'll cover ya if ya need to run off to do that thing but I'm not sure ya can fool Yagami over there fer long-he's pretty sharp."

Kaito had two choices. He could let Hattori know now that he wasn't really Kudou Shinichi of the East or he could play it off like he knew exactly what Hattori was talking about when he actually didn't. To do what thing? "Aa, I appreciate that but it shouldn't be necessary. We have enough time to solve this case, I'm sure."

"If you say so, Kudou. At least we can focus on the case and not be distracted by yer missin'" Hattori fell for it easy.

"What do you mean? I'm not the one missing, Edogawa Conan is. We can't stop looking for him just because-"

"Kudou Shinichi-san, isn't it?" Yagami had ventured over. Hattori was about as happy about this as Kaito if the look on his face was anything to go by. "Back from overseas?" Overseas? Is that what he was saying? He looked at Hattori who just looked sheepish. Oh. This was Hattori's doing. It was a miracle the detective still managed to hide his real identity.

"A-Aa. I had a case out of the country and just got back. I thought I'd solve the mystery of the missing little detective." Kaito was quick to respond. Light didn't look impressed with that answer. What did he want? It wasn't like he'd had time to rehearse since he just had to wander over before Hattori and Kaito could get things squared away.

He didn't have time to be too bitter as the next thing he knew Ran towards him. This wasn't going to end well.

"Y-Yo, Ran…" How did these two act around other people?

"I'm so glad you decided to help us." Very suddenly, Ran threw her weight into him when she hugged him around the neck and he backpedal to keep from falling over. Ran pulled away and he noticed immediately she had tears in her eyes. "I'm so worried about Conan-kun." She pressed her face against his chest. She was warm and Kaito enjoyed it.

"So you're the famous High School detective?" Yagami asked as Ran pulled away from 'Shinichi' her face a bit red.

"Aa, that's right." 'Shinichi' nodded with a confident smirk. 'Savior of the Japanese Police force and Sherlock Holmes of the Modern era." he felt a sharp jab in his side and saw Ran giving him a look that told him he was being too much of a show off. He'd seen the same look on Aoko on several occasions.

"It's pleasure to meet you. I'm Yagami Light." Yagami nodded his head. "I'm glad to see the rumours of your death were exaggerated."

"He's just been working on a very important case and staying out of the spotlight. But he's still the same cases-freak-jerk he's always been." Ran supplied. Kaito rolled his eyes, easily falling into the vaguely familiar role.

"Sorry, this 'Cases-freak-jerk' has been busy keeping Japan safe for the Karate nut." He poked her nose and Ran blushed. Hattori stared at them suspiciously and Kaito worried that he might be onto him. Thankfully, his phone rang before he could blow Kaito's cover.

Or not.

The look on Hattori's face told Kaito exactly who had just called him. Luckily, Hattori was quickly distracted by what was being said to him over the phone.

"WHAT?" He let out much louder than necessary. Everyone's eyes shot to Hattori. "Aw Jeez." He let a sigh sounding like this was more a minor annoyance than something to be that worried about. "Wait. That doesn't make sense. Why would he bother t' do somethin' like that?"

Well that confirmed that suspicion.

"Who is it?" The west Detective's girl shot him a withering look.

"K-Conan-kun. It's Conan-kun." The detective rattled off like it was common knowledge. Ran moved so fast she whipped the phone out of Hattori's hand like lightening and she shoved it against her ear, voice frantic.

"Conan-kun? Are you okay?" She sighed in relief and Kaito assumed he must have told her he was fine. It was probably a lie. "We're going to find you okay? Shinichi's going to help."

Hattori tugged the phone away again, probably best that way. "Aa, it's me." He affirmed. He nodded once and looked over Kaito's way. "Yeah, sure." He held the phone out to him. "He wants to talk to you."

"Hello? Conan-kun?" Kaito started.

"Why the hell are you there?" He didn't even try to act like a kid. Fortunately, that was a question that Kid 'couldn't really answer without blowing both their covers so he ignored it. "I don't want to know how you found out I was missing but listen-if You're going to pretend to be me then make sure you keep my name out of the paper, understood?"

"Of course." Kaito still wasn't sure why all the secrecy but he assumed it probably had something to do with the bad guys that blew up the car of the Bell Tree Express. And he thought _he_ was dealing with some scary people. "But Conan-kun, I need to know if you can tell me your location-any windows you can see out of?" He slid right into detective mode. He heard the irritation and practically felt the annoyance in the real detective's sigh.

"No, I'm in a basement with the kidnapper's victim." That was interesting. Based on the evidence at these low level income apartments Kaito would say that Hattori and company were investigating the kidnapper's victim's death. "And the building's on fire." He added as an afterthought as if that wasn't the first thing he should have mentioned.

"On fire!?" Kaito repeated, gaining several alarmed looks from everyone. "Hang on." He pulled the phone away from his ear. "Conan-kun says that he and kidnapper's victim are trapped in a burning building."

"Eh!?" Ran took the phone again. "Hello? Hello, Conan-kun? Why didn't you say the building was on fire? How can you say you're okay?"

"What does he mean he's with the victim?" Yagami and Hattori asked as the phone transferred back to Ran. Kaito shrugged.

"Neechan-could ya tell Ku-ah-Conan-kun that the victim is dead on th' floor o' this apartment?" Hattori requested. Ran shot him a glare but did as asked. "So if th' kidnapper's victim is here. Who does Ku-I mean-Conan-kun have with him?" The three boys thought briefly on the question and the answer hit them all like a ton of bricks.

"A-Aa… this might be a problem." Hattori started.

"Eh? Why?" Ran looked over at the them.

"Because the victim Conan-kun's with is more than likely his kidnapper." Yagami stated.

The case just got a lot harder. Kaito knew the detective well enough that he wasn't too concerned for his well being and it was likely that boy would get himself out of the burning building long before they even made it there.

"May I?" Yagami requested to take the phone and Ran nodded, handing it over. As Yagami turned away to talk to the detective the west detective grabbed him by the arm again.

"What do ya think yer doin?" The Osakan whispered harshly. "Don't ya realise that yer puttin' a lot more than yerself in danger doin' that?" To be honest, Kaito didn't know that. He knew that Kudou Shinichi had fallen out of the limelight due to his _small_ condition but he didn't know how he'd gotten that way or who was responsible. Though he was starting to think that maybe he should if they were such a plague on the detective's life.

"I promise not to get his name put in the papers." Kaito offered, the look on the Osakan's face was telling him pretty clearly that wasn't good enough.

"Kudou's under a enough pressure righ' now. He doesn' need the added stress." Pressure? Had the little detective asked his western counterpart to come visit him for something? What exactly were these detectives getting into?

"That's what we think as well-" Kaito heard Yagami talking to the little detective, getting details about the case. First thing was first-they needed to get him out of that building somehow and then Kaito could worry about interrogating the detectives.

"Do you have a plan to find him?" Kaito whispered to the west detective.

"Well, yeah actually but it's gonna involve-" Hattori stopped abruptly when his phone was being handed to him and took it without question. "Aa." He grunted into the device. "Aa. Yeah, I can do that." He said with a nod. "No problem' Ku-Ah-Conan-kun." He hung up the phone and turned to Officer's Sato and Takagi.

"K-ah-Conan-kun says t' go to the president's place an' see if th' wife has been there." Hattori stated. "K-Kudou an' I will catch up with ya there."

"What about Conan-kun!?" Ran demanded. "He said that building's on fire-how much longer does he have?"

"He's fine Neechan, K-Kudou an' I are gonna go find him. Promise." Hattori assured her, pulling Kaito by his arm towards the exit.

"Might I volunteer myself to the rescue squad?" Yagami's voice was like nails on a chalkboard at this point. He looked over to Hattori who seemed unsure of what to do considering how sensitive the operation was.

"..Er… Yeah. I guess that'd be alright." He finally decided, shooting Kaito an apologetic look. Kaito didn't know what for though-it was the real Kudou he was going to have to apologize to.

"Come on, we have to hurry." Kaito stated, turning to lead the them down the stairs.


	14. Escape

Kaito now fully understood the apologetic look that the detective of the west had shot his way. He needed his particular brand of skillset-specifically his lock picking skills. He stood out in front of the vaguely circular house surveying the neighborhood while Hattori noisly messed with the gate until the latch came undone. Kaito and Yagami winced at the loud squeak and the loud noise it made when it crashed against the fence. He'd make a terrible thief with all that noise. It was almost appalling.

Kaito rolled his eyes and glanced towards the large mansion next door-the Kudou Manor. He squinted and could have sworn he saw something in the window but as far as he knew that house was empty and had remained so since the appearance of little Edogawa Conan. He winced again as Hattori kicked something with a clang and glared. This was not how he'd wanted to spend new years. Someone was going to call the police on them at this rate.

"And what are we doing here?" Yagami questioned, standing off to the side while watching Hattori prove he was incapable of being quiet.

"This is Agasa-hakase's house." Kaito supplied. Hattori whipped around to look at him, probably surprised that he knew. "He's a family friend." Yagami was watching them both carefully, Kaito could tell that he knew they weren't telling him something and it was digging under his skin. Good.

"Agasa was the one that had the means to track Conan-kun, correct?" He asked. "Did we get a spare key?" Hattori looked over at Kaito who sighed and made his way over to the door handle. At least it was probable that Kudou Shinichi knew how to pick a lock. He knelt down by the door and inspected it carefully-it was relatively simple and he should have it in a matter of seconds.

"Conan-kun has the spare key." Kaito stated, working the lock until he heard the audible 'Click!' and swung the door open. "Desperate times, my friend." Yagami raised an eyebrow at him but stepped into the dark empty house with the other two. Hattori had obviously been here before as he went straight to the light switch.

The main room was rather spacious and circular. The Kitchen was off to the side and there were a set of stairs leading to the top level of the house. Hattori wasn't interested in any of this though and moved straight for a door on the ground floor, yanking it open and quickly descending down the stairs. Kaito looked at Yagami before following after him.

Hattori moved straight to the desk to the far corner and ripped the drawer open. He pulled the glasses from inside it and immediately turned them on. At least they could find him now. Leaving Hattori to handle that, Kaito looked around the room curiously. The room was an obvious mess-a coffee cup sitting on the desk, papers scattered here and there and few test tubes and beakers on display instead of stored away. It wasn't that unexpected-Kudou's neighbor was an inventor after all.

"Got him!" Hattori announced triumphantly. "He ain't that far." He spun around, glasses on his face and started to sprint up the steps only to find the way was blocked by a man with curly light brown hair, rimmed glasses and a turtleneck standing with his arms crossed. It was that guy from the archrive heist. Something about him made Kaito feel slightly uneasy.

"Should I ask what you three are doing breaking into my neighbor's house?" He asked calmly. Where had this guy come from? Kaito looked over to Hattori who seemed just as surprised. This is what he got for trusting Hattori to get that gate open.

"We don't have time fer this! I gotta go get Ku-Conan-kun!" He shouted at the man blocking their exit. But the name sparked recognition and Kaito could have sworn he saw a glint of green in the man's eyes.

"Conan-kun? What's happened to him?" He asked, uncrossing his arms. That time Kaito was sure there was a glint of green aimed in his direction

"You can ask questions later, right now we gotta move!" Hattori shouted. The man-Okiya Subaru if Kaito was remembering correctly- only shifted his position.

"Conan-kun was abducted." Yagami spoke up. "We're trying to track him as it seems his kidnapper was murdered and the building he's trapped in was set on fire." Well, that was certainly the gist of it.

"Aa, so then you're here for the tracking glasses. If you're short on time, I'd be more than happy to drive you to his location."

oooOOOooo

Shinichi coughed violently as the smoke was starting to make its way under the door and across the wide basement. A room this big should have had another exit due to building codes but it didn't. He sighed and looked at the dead body he was currently sharing space with. Could Hattori and that idiot get the glasses in time? And even if they did, how could he be sure they could even get to him? If the fire had spread enough then no one would be able to even get down here to get him.

Well, if he died at least he wouldn't have to choose between Kira and the Black Organisation. He coughed again and glared at the door that held the fire back.

A jolt of energy shot through him as a loud ringing met his ears and he looked around. It sounded like Conan's phone but the kidnapper had-oh. Of course. He got to his feet and moved over to search the dead body again-this time he was able to dig his phone out from his pockets. At frist the call seemed to have been lost and Shinichi just sighed, it probably wasn't important anyway. However, it sprang back to life after a few seconds. He he glanced at the caller ID reading: 'Unknown.' Helpful.

Seeing as he had little else to do, he slid the screen over to accept the call.

"Yes?" He Answered lazily, leaning against one of the support beams.

"Edogawa Conan?" The voice on the other end caught his attention immediately. It was distorted-mechanic. A voice modifier?

"Who's calling?" He demanded sharply.

"That is unimportant." The voice stated. "I am going to walk you through your escape." Who was this? Who needed a modulator to get hold of him? He shook his head and focused on the empty promise. As much as he'd liked the idea of escaping there wasn't really a whole lot he could do.

"You wasted your time then, there's no way out of here." Shinichi sighed, looking around again for good measure, though this time he was in search of cameras. How did this person know where he was? "Why do you want to help me escape?"

"There is a way. However, it will not be easy." He noticed the voice did not answer his question and took a breath. Should he trust the mysterious voice on the other end or hang up? He looked back over at the source of the smoke and then at his phone. He didn't exactly have any other options, he'd die if he just sat here.

"Okay. How do I get out of here?" He gave in, listening closely to the background for some form of noise to indicate who his caller was. There was nothing but silence for a good few minutes. Was he looking over information? He couldn't hear the clack of keyboard but a touch screen would hardly make noise.

"In the north eastern corner there is a small grate, please tell me when you've found it." The voice instructed. That much Shinichi could do. He looked in the direction the grate would be and slowly made his way over to it, clicking his watchlight on to see it better. It looked like it was on there pretty solidly. What did this voice think he could do?

"I found it." He announced. "But I don't have any tools to get it off."

"That wall has been severely weakened and feeds into the basement of another company. If you want out, you will have to destroy it." Shinichi looked at the wall and then back at the grate. He pointed his watch light up to see where a good deal of water damage had overtaken the top half. The wall couldn't have been very sturdy, the voice was right. How could this person have known about this?

"I see that, but what am I supposed to destroy it with?" Or did this guy forget that Edogawa Conan was seven?

"You are a resourceful child. I suggest you find a way." The voice cut off abruptly and Shinichi was left with a dull dial tone in his ear.

Destroy the wall, huh? Shinichi looked at it carefully. According to the voice his freedom would be on the other side. Unfortunately, breaking down a wall was a tall order for his current size. Hell, he'd probably have difficulty with it even at his real size. He took a breath and looked behind him. He might be able to do it with a soccer ball but was there enough space for that much force? He could definitely do it with the firework brand but that might be dangerous.

A buzzing in his right pocket pulled his concentration away from the problem at hand, a quick look at the caller ID and he answered it without a second thought. "What is it, Hattori?"

"Ku-nan-kun!" He sounded excited. Shinichi pulled the phone away from his ear just a bit. "Ki-udou an' I think we know how t' getcha outta there." Interesting.

"Aa, there's a weakened wall down here. I just have to break it down." Hattori's silence spoke volumes about the reason he was calling.

"Uh.. yeah. That's exactly what I was gonna tell ya. Think yer shoes can handle it?"

"I have the utmost faith that they can." Shinichi could hear a bitter voice on the other end and couldn't help but snicker.

"Not funny, You could really hurt someone with those." He rolled his eyes at Kid's complaining and looked back at the wall. He probably could knock it down-He hoped.

"I'll give it a shot, but you should still get the fire department." He decided, moving back further away from the wall in order to allow plenty of room to get a good running start. He heard Hattori saying something but he killed the call and stored the phone back in his pocket. Break down the wall. Right. Ran was the person you went to for that kind of remodeling. Well, here went nothing.

He squatted down to crank up the power on his shoes and started to run towards the wall. He twisted the knob on his belt to inflate a soccer ball, let it hit the ground once and then kicked it full force at the offending wall. He watched as electricity crackled around it and the ball slammed into the barrier, knocking right through it and shaking the room slightly.

That was his cue. Shinichi took off at a run again, the faster he could get out the better. As the mysterious voice had said the wall fed into another basement and he didn't waste much time looking around too much as he located the stairs and made his way out.

Clean air had never tasted so good and he took in as much as his lungs would hold, hands on his knees. He took in a few more breaths and then stood up straight, turning to face the building he'd only recently been trapped in. It looked like it was on the verge of collapse and Shinichi was infinitely glad he'd made it out in time.

But now he had other things to be concerned about. Such as who was that voice that called to tell him about the weakened wall? Who had access to that kind of information? His breathing slowly returned to normal and a firefighter took note of his presence, quickly scooped him up pulling him away from the danger zone. Shinichi wasn't listening as he was told off and once the man's back was turned he wandered off in search of Hattori as he had to be around somewhere.

"Ahou! Why aren't ya listenin' I jus said that-" Oh. There he was. Shinichi swallowed another breath and moved silently over to the osakan detective shouting at the fire marshall, the thief and bored college student.

"Hattori." He said flatly.

"Don' mess with me now, Ku-" Shinichi rolled his eyes and Hattori's snapped back down to him. "Ku-Nan-kun!" he nearly said the wrong name for probably the millionth time. "Glad ta see ya made it out okay!" Shinichi was glad to be out.

"Yeah." He said dismissively. "Were Sato and Takagi able to track down the murderer?"

"You just get out of a burning building and the first thing you ask is about the case?" Kid asked, still disguised at the high school detective. Shinichi raised an eyebrow at his imposter.

"O' course tha's what he'd ask. Good ol' Ku-Ku-Uh-Conan-kun." Shinichi and Kid both shared identical sighs. At least it was slightly less annoying with 'Kudou Shinichi' standing right there. It probably just seemed like Hattori frequently mixed their names up. Which was technically true. "An-anyways, yeah. Sato and Takagi-han were able to get her-she's probably at the station now. And Neechan's waitin on 'Kudou" He shot a glare at Kid. "-to bring ya back to the agency."

Shinichi shot a glare at Kid but as he opened his mouth to say something he was cut off by a smooth but familiar voice.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to intervene." He spun around to see Subaru had somehow gotten involved. "I'll take him back to the detective agency after I've had a word if that's okay."

"Aa." Shinichi replied distractedly. "That's fine." There was only one reason Subaru would want to talk to him alone.

"Conan-kun." Yagami's voice caught him off guard and he spun to face him. "I wondered if I might have a word with you later? I'm sure you're tired now." Shinichi's eyes narrowed. In all the excitement he'd nearly forgotten about the information he'd gotten from Naomi and regarded the other cautiously.

"Sure!" He chirped in true little kid fashion. "If you come get me at the agency tomorrow we can talk then."

"Perfect. I'll see you then." Yagami nodded. Subaru's hand fell on his shoulder and gently started to steer him away from the others signifying it was time to go. He followed the man silently, not saying a word as he let his thoughts wander back to that voice. Whoever that was had called at just the perfect time with just the right information for him to get out. As absorbed in his thoughts as he was, he almost didn't register the door to Subaru's fiat was being held open for him and he certainly didn't utter a word of gratitude.

"Did you receive a call?" Subaru's question shot right through him and Shinichi stared. How had-?

"Do you know who it was?" He asked quickly, eager to solve that annoying little mystery.

"L." The statement was nearly enough to knock the air out of Shinichi's lungs and his gaze shot up to Subaru.

"What?" He asked inelegantly. He had to have heard that wrong.

"It seems he found out about the fact our James was letting you look through highly classified information." That shouldn't have been surprising. Of course he would have. "Due to the sensitive nature of the case and high praise the bureau has for you, he was naturally curious."

That wasn't good news, it meant he was doing to much as Conan again. At this rate his identity would be discovered. He swallowed thickly and nodded.

"Curious about me?"

"Yes, but your... predicament caused a bit of trouble when he requested a meeting." Subaru explained. "So I'm taking you to meet him now." Shinichi knew enough about how the mysterious L worked that he doubted very seriously that this meeting would be in person. "Are you comfortable with this?"

"Eh?" The question caught him off guard.

"While you are remarkable and have proven to be a great asset to us, this may be a risk you don't want to take." Subaru explained. "You have much more at stake than just your life."

"The same could be said of you." Shinichi shot back, though he did appreciate the concern. Subaru was right, in this case his identity was the only thing that would keep him safe and if that were to get out... He swallowed. In all honesty he wasn't comfortable with this but what could he do? He didn't have a choice. There was no turning back now so he might as well just move ahead.

"Of course, the bureau will continue to support you and look forward to your contributions regarding that one case. If you don't want to do this, now is the time to back out." Shinichi took a breath and looked down at the floor of the car. Subaru didn't know about the threat from Vermouth. He closed his eyes.

"I-" He didn't want to do this. This was dangerous even by his standards. There was so much on the line now and it just wasn't worth it. "I want to do it." He felt his mouth moving. "This isn't the kind of case I can leave alone."

Subaru cast a look at him briefly before returning his gaze to the road and then nodded. "If you're sure."


	15. Break in

This was not how Light thought he'd be spending his new years. First he'd run into that woman, Naomi Misora, who could have been a lot of trouble but he was able quickly deal with, then Ran called with news that Conan was missing and he somehow got roped into joining the rescue committee as he needed to talk to Conan anyway. Now, he was back in the Beika district, standing outside someone's house while the detective of the west noisily worked on getting the front gate to open. Someone was going to call the police on them if this kept up.

"Doesn't breaking and entering count as a crime?" Ryuk asked from where he was floating behind Light.

He let out a sigh and tried to drown out the sound as his attention shifted the large house to the left. He could just barely see the nameplate reading 'Kudou.' Considering Kudou Shinichi was the son of the world renown mystery novelist Kudou Yuusaku and retired actress Kudou Yukiko then mansion next door was likely the house of Kudou Shinichi.

Light winced at the same time Kudou did at the loud and hideous noise the gate made once Hattori had gotten it free. To make matters worse the iron gate swung into the fence with a loud crash and Light was sure that the neighbors had to have heard it.

"And what are we doing here?" He asked, watching the other two head towards the front door. Hattori somehow managed to make more noise.

"This is Agasa-hakase's house." Kudou supplied. At his words Hattori turned to stare at the detective suspiciously but Kudou went on. "He's a family friend-he'll understand." There was something they weren't telling him. They weren't even being subtle about it. He gritted his teeth.

"Agasa was the one who had the means to track Conan-kun, correct?" He asked, watching them both closely. "Did we get a spare key?" If he was remembering right it had already been established that Conan was the one with the spare key.

Hattori looked over at Kudou and the East Detective sighed, uncrossing his arms and moved over to the door.

"Conan-kun has the spare key." He stated. Light watched him messing with the lock and heard it click before Kudou shoved it open. "Desperate times, my friend." He gestured for Light to go ahead. He raised an eyebrow-Kudou got that lock undone awfully quick. He let it go though and stepped into the empty house. Hattori at least knew exactly where he was going as he went straight for a door on the ground floor that led to the basement and made his way down.

Kudou looked over at him, offering a small shrug and then followed after the detective of west. Light heard Ryuk chuckling over his shoulder and decided to follow after the other two. The basement was in complete disarray, paper and beakers everywhere. What sort of person lived here? He moved over to one of the filing cabinets and resisted the urge to look at anything in it. They wouldn't be here long. Hattori had already grabbed these glasses-which looked exactly like the pair Conan usually wore-and shoved them on his face.

"Got him!" Hattori announced triumphantly. "He ain't that far." He spun around and started to sprint up the steps. He didn't get too far though as someone was standing at the top of the stairs. Someone did call the cops. Light cast a glare at Hattori.

"Should I ask what you three are doing breaking into my neighbor's house?" He asked calmly. Something about him made Light a little uneasy, like he too was hiding something.

"We don't have time fer this! I gotta go get Ku-Conan-kun!" Hattori shouted at the man. Though there was a spark of recognition and the man stood up a little straighter.

"Conan-kun? What's happened to him?" He asked, uncrossing his arms.

"You can ask questions later, right now we gotta move!" Hattori shouted again. They obviously weren't getting anywhere like this.

"Conan-kun was abducted." Light finally spoke up. "We're trying to track him as it seems his kidnapper was murdered and the building he's trapped in was set on fire." There was a brief moment of silence and the man pushed his glasses up on his nose.

"Aa, so then you're here for the tracking glasses. If you're short on time, I'd be more than happy to drive you to his location."

oooOOOooo

The Fiat that the man-now identified as Okiya Subaru-drove was a bit cramped for three teenage boys and a fully grown male but they somehow made do without anyone awkwardly up against the other. Hattori, being the one with the glasses sat up front with a map of Tokyo trying to locate Conan's exact location. He occasionally told Subaru when to turn but for the most part his attention stayed on the map.

"I think I got it." He finally announced-a buildin strip' by sunny finanical and if this works the way Ku-Conan-kun says then it should be in this area." Okiya glanced over his shoulder to see where Hattori was pointing.

"Oh. There are a number of closed warehouses in that area." He stated. It sounded like the right place to be looking. Meanwhile, Kudou was looking something up with his phone, finger moving across the screen as he scrolled.

"According to this, they closed down after a failed experiment, they tried to join the basement's together in case of inclement weather." He was saying. "They ran too close to the river though and much of the underground walls crumbled and suffered severe water damage."

"So if that's where that guy was keepin' Ku-Er-Conan-kun then all he's gotta do is knock down a wall?" Hattori asked, taking the phone from Kudou so he could verify the information.

"Knock down a wall?" Light couldn't help but ask. Yes, Conan was quite a capable child but he was still only a child. "You think a seven year old can handle that?" Hattori and Kudou looked at each other.

"That particular seven year old, most definitely." Okiya stated. That was a lot of faith these people had in Conan. Hattori handed Kudou back his phone and pulled out his own.

"Ku-nan-kun!" He shouted excitedly into the phone. "Ki-udou an' I think we know how t' getcha outta there." Presumably, Conan responded and the response left Hattori a little confused and switched it to speaker just incase. "Uh.. yeah. That's exactly what I was gonna tell ya. Think yer shoes can handle it?"

"I have the utmost faith that they can." Kudou offered. Shoes? What were they talking about? Lighter heard Conan snickering at the comment as it had obviously meant something to him.

"Not funny, You could really hurt someone with those." Kudou told him. There was something Light was missing again and he was left to quietly seethe about it.

"I'll give it a shot, but you should still get the fire department." Conan's voice came through.

"Don't you have-" But Hattori didn't finish though as Conan had hung up. The Osakan sighed. "He does that."

"How is it that Conan-kun is meant to get out of a basement by breaking down a wall?" Light chanced asking.

"One of the professor's inventions." Kudou finally explained. "They amplify his kicking power. I'm sure you've noticed that kid is notoriously difficult to keep track of. He runs off the moment you turn your back, has a bad habit of getting into dangerous situations, and doesn't seem to be intimidated by anything. They're basically for self-defense." Light had to admit they were all pretty valid points..

"Except that new superintendent." He voiced. Whatever he'd said had a major impact on everyone in the car.

"What do ya mean?" Hattori was the first to speak up. "Ain't the superintendent in Tokyo that Hakuba guy's dad?" The blonde detective he'd met at the heist?

"Hakuba's dad is the chief of the police. " Kudou stated. "As in, he controls the whole department-not unlike your dad."

"Oh right. Anyways, what about the superintendent?" Hattori steered the conversation back on course, attention returning to Light.

"When I went to the Kid heist, Conan-kun was watching him the whole time and he seemed nervous." He supplied. Hattori looked at Kudou who just shrugged.

"He just doesn' like new people." Hattori tried to wave it off but Light could tell this new bit of information concerned him.

oooOOOooo

The fire department had already been called by the time they made it to the warehouse and there didn't seem to be any sign of Conan. Had he not been able to escape? If he died that was one less problem Light would have to worry about. Once the car was stopped Hattori wasted no time in hopping out of the car and dashed for the burning building.

What was with these people? Conan ran out into traffic, Kudou picked locks and Hattori just tried to run into a burning building. This was a headache-how could he have gotten himself roped into this.

Ahou! Why aren't ya listenin' I jus said that there's a kid in tha' buildin' ya'd better let me through!" Light sighed as he could hear Hattori shouting at the fireman.

"Hattori." A familiar voice sounded, though there was nothing childlike about it. Hattori didn't seem to notice and held a hand out to indicate he needed to wait a minute. Light rolled his eyes and waited.

"Don' mess with me now, Ku-" Hattori froze. Looked down. "Ku-Nan-kun!" He exclaimed, for a moment it looked like he was going to hug the kid but obviously thought better of it. "Glad ta see ya made it out okay!"

"Yeah." Conan said dismissively. "Were Sato and Takagi able to track down the murderer?" That was the first thing he thought to ask?

"You just get out of a burning building and the first thing you ask is about the case?" Kudou chided.

"O' course tha's what he'd ask. Good ol' Ku-Ku-Uh-Conan-kun." Kudou and Conan both shared identical sighs. They must have been related somehow. Which, Light thought, might explain the raw intelligence Conan possessed. "Yeah. Sato and Takagi-han were able to get her-she's probably at the station now. And Neechan's waitin on 'Kudou to bring ya back to the agency." At this rate Light wasn't going to get a moment to talk to Conan.

Conan looked up at Kudou and opened his mouth but closed it as he was cut off abruptly.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to intervene." Light watched the expression on the young detective's face as he turned around to face Subaru. "I'll take him back to the detective agency after I've had a word if that's okay."

"Aa..." Conan sounded distracted. "That's fine." Light suppressed a sigh. He'd only joined this rescue party in hopes of grabbing a word with Conan and it seemed he was impossible to get to him.

"Conan-kun." Light started, Conan spinning around to face him. "I wondered if I might have a word with you later? I'm sure you're tired now." At the request, Conan's eyes narrowed ever so slightly, making Light feel just a little uneasy, a feeling he was starting to find was annoyingly common the more time he spent around Conan's crowd.

"Sure!" He chirped in true little kid fashion. The sudden change in tone was jarring. "If you come get me at the agency tomorrow we can talk then."

"Perfect. I'll see you then." Light didn't have anytime to say anything more as Subaru gently led Conan away.


	16. Poirot Cafe

Just as Shinichi had thought, his meeting with L was not face to face. Instead, Shinichi was led to a small, darkened room with only a single monitor sitting on the carpeted floor. The door was shut behind him and any light that the outside had offered vanished, leaving the small detective completely in the dark. How metaphorical.

He glanced around the room to see if he could make out any shapes but until his eyes adjusted he couldn't even see the hand in front of his face. A buzzing sound came from the monitor before it snapped on, the letter L clearly displayed on the screen.

"Edogawa Conan." It was the same voice he'd heard over the phone earlier. So it really had been L. "I am L."

"Yeah, Akai-san told me." Shinichi offered a bit distractedly as he looked around a bit more. He didn't really expect to find anything other than the monitor as he doubted if L was even in the same building.

"It has come to my attention that you-What are you doing?" L's asked as Shinichi was now on his hands in knees running his fingers over the floor near the monitor.

"Just checking." He offered, crawling behind the monitor. "I don't like not knowing what's around me."

"Very well." L moved on. You have occasionally acted as a consultant for the FBI. Is this so?" If he was aware of that much then was he already aware of the organisation? It was very possible that the head of the FBI had already briefed him about the reason Agent Starling and her team were still in Japan.

"Yes. On little things." He left his response intentionally vague to see what L would make of it. He moved over, hands in front him as he felt around for the wall. Nothing. The room really was empty aside from the monitor.

"That is quite impressive for someone your age." L commented. Too impressive. He'd been gaining too much attention as Conan again. Outwitting Kaitou Kid was one thing but this- "I am told you have a nickname amongst the media as 'The Kid Killer' due to your duels with the Phantom Thief KID."

"Yes. That's true-but I don't really like that name." Shinichi stated, still unsure of what this meeting was even about.

"That is understandable." L stated. "Your intelligence is intriguing. I wanted to meet you for myself." That wasn't good. He'd gotten L's attention? He supposed it made sense considering he was in contact with the FBI but no one aside from that small team was supposed to know about that.

"It's not that impressive, it's really just luck." Shinichi tried to wave it off. "I just happen to be in the right place."

"James Black-san allowed you to look at some very sensitive documents regarding the Kira case," He ignored the comment. "I need to know if there was anything you noticed that you think might have been overlooked."

Oh, there was so much he could tell him regarding his findings on the Kira case-and he -wanted- to but, he couldn't help but think about what would happen if the Organisation somehow got ahold of the information. The information he had and points he could make would most definitely help L with solving the case but the moment he did Kira would fall into the waiting jaws of the organisation.

He couldn't let that happen. Above all else, that could not happen. He'd have to keep L from catching Kira for now.

"I'm sorry. I looked but there wasn't really anything interesting." He felt the lie rolling out of his mouth. It felt strange. Sure he lied on a daily basis-his entire appearance was a lie-but this was different. This was intentionally obstructing justice to protect a mass murderer.

"I see." The emotionless, monotone voice suddenly sounded so judgemental. "You have kept up with this case, you must have theories."

Theories... that was a word for it. He could feel the truth just at the back his throat but he couldn't-Vermouth had already said there was an organisation member within the Kira task force. The information would get to the organisation. He swallowed.

"Sorry, I've been really distracted by other things." It was sort of the truth. He had been distracted by other things but that was mostly the moral dilemma he was now facing brought on by the Kira case.

"That is unfortunate." L stated. "Are you quite certain you do not have anything that might be remotely useful? You are acquainted with several FBI agents. Did you meet any of the agents on the Kira case?"

"No." It wasn't technically a lie, it just wasn't the whole truth. "I've only met Agent Starling's team."

"If you are positive you have nothing to offer then you may leave." Shinichi was positive he had a lot to offer but the consequences of that information leaking into the wrong hands kept his mouth tightly shut. Maybe he should ask Akai if L was aware of the organisation but he didn't want to call attention to the fact he was worried about Them. Not that he was ever not worried about Them.

"Okay, sorry I couldn't help more." And he really was. It was killing him inside knowing that he could help solve the case with the information he had and knowing that the information was too dangerous to divulge. Even to L.

oooOOOooo

(Light)

Early the next Morning Light found himself sitting at the Poirot Cafe located directly underneath the Mouri Detective agency. Apparently, Conan was well known there as he was greeted by the owner and both waiter and waitress. ( Amuro Tooru and Enomoto Azusa respectively. ) This kid's popularity was mind blowing-how had they never crossed paths before?

However, that wasn't the purpose of this visit. Light needed to know what Conan knew regarding the bus incident and what he had on the Kira case. He didn't want to do it, but if it came right down to it he might have to kill him. Fortunately though, Conan didn't seem all that interested in the Kira case. He'd mentioned it once or twice in passing as it was a difficult subject to escape but ultimately he seemed much more interested in other things.

Maybe he'd get lucky and that sharp little mind would just not care about the Kira case, though if he were asked questions about it, Light was sure he'd answer honestly.

"Conan." Conan looked up from poking his ice with a straw.

"Hm?" How to approach this subject without raising any red flags.

"I'm glad to see yesterday didn't slow you down too much." He stated. Conan went back to stabbing ice and shrugged before taking a drink.

"Yesterday was nothing. I've been in much worse situations." Much worse than being trapped in a burning building? How was this child still alive? The way he'd said it was innocent that one might not catch how extremely alarming that statement should have been.

"Regardless, I'm sure it was scary." Light prompted. It looked like Conan had think about it. His gaze drifting away as he glanced off to the side.

"Well... I guess I cut it a little close." A little close. Light resisted the urge press his palm to his forehead.

"You get into situations like that often?" He was almost afraid of the answer.

"More than you would think." Light couldn't help but agree. "Anyways, you wanted to talk to me?" The bright, innocent expression was making him uneasy again. What was it about this kid that just seemed... off?

"Yes, it's been sometime since I'd last seen you, not since the bus incident." He started smoothly. Luckily Conan had provided him with the perfect way to bring it up. ...He couldn't have planned that, could he have?

"Oh yeah, that." He went back to poking ice. "That was weird."

"Weird?" Light prompted. Weird isn't the word he'd expect. "What was weird?"

"Osoreda's request." He answered simply, forcing Light to suppress a sigh. Why was getting information out of this brat so difficult?

"What was weird about it?" He asked. Conan stopped stabbing ice and stared him a good long moment before taking a drink.

"Well, it didn't really make sense for him to ask for the financial reports for the previous day. That's not something an amateur would ask for, he'd be much better off asking for the profits since he had hostages. Asking for the reports would only raise the alarm that he might try to rob Tropical Land later. Then there's the added question of why he wanted to rob an amusement park. Why not a bank?"

"And was hallucinating-maybe it was the drugs." Light tried to shy him away from that train of thought.

"It couldn't have been." Conan shook his head. "I checked-his eyes weren't dilated so he was sober at the time. I thought it could have been withdrawl but the needle punctures on his arm were faded-he hadn't been using for a few weeks. So his actions really don't make sense." He sipped at his iced coffee.

"He's given this a lot of thought." Ryuk offered from where he was hovering above them.

"Who knows, not everything criminals do makes sense." Light offered.

"But that's not exactly true." Conan was quick to object. "If someone commits a crime then they have an end goal in mind. Whether it be money, drugs, or even-"

"KYAAA!"

Conan was cut off by a sudden scream from Azusa and spun around to see one of the guests had collapsed. He hopped off the chair at lightening speed and went to check for a pulse.

Light was left to stare at the empty chair, processing what Conan had just said and what had just happened. It looked like another person had been murdered. With another murder though, Light would at least get to see if Conan really had used him as a puppet the first time.

(Shinichi)

Early the next morning Shinichi found himself sitting at the Poirot Cafe sitting across the table from Yagami Light who might just be the mass murderer known as Kira. He'd gone from meeting L to having breakfast with Kira in less than twelve hours. How had this happened?

He watched him closely, neither had really said much to each other. Which was strange because Light had said he needed to talk to him. About what? He busied himself with poking at the ice in his iced coffee while he waited for Light to break the silence. If Light wanted to talk then he could initiate the conversation.

"Conan." Yagami finally spoke and Shinichi looked up at him curiously.

"Hm?" He wouldn't direct the conversation-If Yagami was Kira then he didn't want to give him reason to suspect that he was on to him.

"I'm glad to see yesterday didn't slow you down too much." He stated. Shinichi went back to stabbing his ice with the straw and shrugged. That's what he going to lead with? It almost wasn't worth an answer so he just took a drink. He caught an ice cube in his mouth and opted to answer with the most alarming thing he could think of.

"Yesterday was nothing. I've been in much worse situations." He was sure to keep his tone light and innocent, secretly taking joy in the slight look of alarm the statement had gotten. He watched as Yagami pushed past that thought and then proceeded.

"Regardless, I'm sure it was scary." Bad move Yagami. It wasn't scary so much as it was annoying. Shinichi looked off to the side, intentionally holding off on answering.

"Well... I guess I cut it a little close." Too close for comfort but he didn't need to admit that. The look that crossed Yagami's face was worth it and he sipped at his coffee again.

"Do you get into situations like that often?" He chanced asking.

"More than you would think." Shinichi responded honestly this time. This conversation wasn't getting anywhere and it was obvious what Yagami was trying to segway into. "Anyways, you wanted to talk to me?"

"Yes, it's been some time since I'd last seen you, not since the bus incident." He probably thought he was smooth. In actuality, Shinichi expected that, if Yagami were indeed Kira then he'd want to talk to him about that specific incident. It had had been proven that Conan was good at remembering and noticing little details so it was only natural that Yagami would want to know what he knew.

"Oh yeah, that." He went back to poking the ice. "That was weird."

"Weird?" He'd have to tread carefully-give him just enough information to realise he was suspicious of the events but not enough for him to think he suspected him specifically. He'd have to be a bit loose with the information, revealing it as if there was no way he could suspect Yagami.

"Osoreda's request." He answered simply, not elaborating more than that. If he gave away too much at once then Yagami might get suspicious.

"What was weird about it?" He asked. Shinichi stopped poking at the ice and just looked up at him for a good long moment before taking a drink.

"Well, it didn't really make sense for him to ask for the financial reports for the previous day." He started. "That's not something an amateur would ask for, he'd be much better off asking for the profits since he had hostages and escape was unlikely. Not to mention that asking for the reports would only raise the alarm that he might try to rob Tropical Land later. Then there's the added question of why he wanted to rob an amusement park. Why not a bank?" But then, if he was going to ask that question why did a dangerous criminal organisation use an amusement park to make shady deals?

"He was hallucinating-maybe it was the drugs." Yagami offered. Shinichi almost swallowed his ice cube whole. Really Yagami? Drugs compelled him to ask for the financial reports rather than the profits to buy more drugs? That made even -less- sense.

"It couldn't have been." He shook his head, trying to hide that he'd just nearly choked on his ice. "I checked-his eyes weren't dilated so he was sober at the time. I thought it could have been withdrawl but the needle punctures on his arm were faded-he hadn't been using for a few weeks. So his actions really don't make sense." Talk your way out of that, Yagami! Shinichi returned to sipping at his drink. How annoying, it was almost out.

"Who knows, not everything criminals do makes sense." Yagami stated. That excuse was even worse.

"But that's not exactly true." Shinichi quickly objected. "If someone commits a crime then they have an end goal in mind. Whether it be money, drugs, or even-"

"KYAAA!"

Azusa? Alarm spread Shinichi like a wave and he hopped off the chair and dashed over to where it looked like a customer had collapsed. He took a breath and knelt down to press his fingers to the victim's pulse and found it missing.

"Azusa-san... can you please call the police?"

It was a good thing Amuro was here to help him solve the case. He couldn't risk using the sleeping detective trick on Light again.


	17. Plan

The victim was thirty-three year old Sanada Hana, a journalist that had recently been promoted to editor. It seemed she was here in celebration with her three friends, now upgraded to suspects. Shinichi took a breath and looked around the cafe. It was familiar to him so he'd notice immediately if anything was out of place.

"Notice anything yet?" A voice behind him made him jump but it was just Amuro and he breathed a sigh of relief before he shook his head.

"Nothing that you haven't noticed." He offered. "None of their napkins turned up with the poison on them. None of the utensils either... though there is one thing I haven't checked. "

"Regretfully, I wasn't paying much attention to that table so I didn't notice anything suspicious." Shinichi sighed and thought over what he knew of the case and where it had been established each suspect had been sitting. How easy would it be to switch something like that?

"The only thing I can think of is how the poison was introduced to the victim but I don't know who the murderer is yet."

"Yes, as far as method's go I believe this one is pretty straight forward." Amuro conceded. "But which of her friends had the best opportunity to switch it?" Shinichi glanced over at the suspects, watching them closely. At the very least, they could tell the police where the poison came from.

He glanced back up at Amuro who was standing upright again, finger on his chin thinking. That's right. Amuro was a public safety officer working undercover in the Organisation! As a NOC, Amuro would be swept up in the whole mess.

He wondered if he could tell him about what he knew. Feeding information to Amuro meant that maybe the Public Safety Bureau could intercept Kira before the black organisation could. Shinichi glanced over to where he could see Yagami talking to Megure, presumably giving a statement. He couldn't talk to him just yet, he had to get away from Yagami first.

"Um... Actually Amuro-san, I need to talk to you about something later." He finally said. Amuro regarded him carefully. He must have noticed Shinichi seemed to be struggling with his thoughts because he offered a small smile.

"This won't take too much longer, we can talk then." He offered. Shinichi nodded. Time to go wreck a murderer's day.

oooOOOooo

After successfully solving the murder (the culprit had swapped the victim's lipstick for one laced with cyanide) Shinichi had to find someway to ditch Yagami so he could talk to Amuro in private and not have to worry about being overheard. It seemed that Yagami's curiosity had been quelled for the time being though, because it wasn't long after Amuro and Conan solved the murder (Conan acting as assistant) and the crime scene had been cleaned up that he stated he needed to study for his entrance exam and took his leave.

Shinichi pushed the door of the cafe open and looked over to where he could see Amuro washing dishes. Since there had been a murder the owner had closed up shop early and he supposed that Amuro volunteered to stay and clean up, giving them plenty of time to talk.

He climbed up on the barstool and waited for him to finish what he was doing. They had time and Shinichi needed to gather his thoughts anyway. He didn't know if Amuro was aware of his true identity just that he was somehow caught up in the organisation's web.

"What did you want to talk about?" Amuro shut the sink off and set a glass of iced coffee in front of him, he took it and stirred the iced around a bit.

"Kira." He confessed, deciding he should just get it out. Amuro froze, watching him closely and waiting for him to continue. "The Organisation wants Kira's weapon, don't they?"

Amuro didn't answer for several seconds, just watching him closely-no doubt wondering how he even knew that.

"Yes." He finally admitted. "It's become a top priority."

"So then, do they have someone inside the Kira task force?" Shinichi asked, afraid of the answer he already knew. Amuro's silence told him everything and he felt his insides growing heavier. "Do you know who it is?"

"Unfortunately, I don't. It's someone I've never met but I can tell you their code name is Absinthe. " Absinthe. Shinichi memorised it. Although, this now meant that he really couldn't tell L what he knew about the Kira case because it would undoubtedly filter down to the organisation. He closed his eyes and took a breath. It really was as bad as he thought.

"...Does L know?" He found himself asking.

"Hm?"

"About the Organisation, I mean." Shinichi clarified before finally taking a drink. Amuro focused on drying a glass with a towel before putting it up.

"It's hard to believe that he isn't at least aware of it. It crops up in places all over the world. Then again, he does tend to be very particular about his cases. If it's come up he might not have noticed or even cared." Amuro mused. "After all, organised crime isn't really something they'd call L in on."

"So then... it'd be dangerous to give him any information on the case." Shinichi said quietly, more to himself than anything else.

"Aa, probably." Amuro said, watching him carefully. "Do you have something to tell him?"

"Maybe... It's more of a theory but lately it's seeming more and more likely." Shinichi rolled the events of that bus-jacking over in his head for the sixteen-thousandth time. "If I tell you though, the information can't go to the Kira task force since the information would leak to Them."

"Of course."

"Do you remember last month there was a bus-jacking in which the hijacker ran out into the street and got hit by a car?" Shinichi asked. Amuro had to think about it a moment before nodding. "Well, I was on that bus and no matter how many times I go over it in my head, the bus jacker's demands just don't make sense-what happened to him doesn't make sense."

"Yes, I heard he asked for financial reports. I thought it was odd too." Amuro agreed.

"A week later the twelve FBI agents stationed in Japan to work on the Kira case were killed. Before that, no one even knew the FBI was involved since they don't publically announce their involvements, so how could Kira have known?" The answer was obvious but it still felt like a ridiculous deduction.

"He must have seen one of their badges. It's not enough that he'd have the name and face of one FBI agent, he'd have to have had all twelve. Not to mention they should have aliases to give to the general public-so he must have gotten an agent to show him their badge." Amuro mused the exact same thing Shinichi had already deduced, it didn't make him feel any better.

"Yes, and in a bus-jacking incident there'd be plenty of reason to show his badge to someone." Amuro's silence told him just how right he was. "It could be a coincidence but the FBI agent, Raye Penbar was on the bus at that time. He sat in the back next to my friends. There were only two people he could have shown his badge too." He put his elbows up on the bar and steepled his fingers together as his mind raced through the information again.

"You think Kira was on that bus as well?"

"Yes. No matter how many times I go over it in my head that's the only thing that even begins to make sense based on the order of the events. Kira noticed he was being followed, he staged an incident to force the FBI agent to show him his badge and from there Kira.. Somehow controlled their actions and..."

"Killed them."

"Aa..." Shinichi responded solemnly. "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.

"But that just feels like I'm jumping to conclusions." He rubbed at his temples and took a deep breath. "If I think of it this way then the only possible suspect is Yagami Light-a soon to be college student and the son of the head of violent crimes division."

"Considering that Kira only needs a name a face to be able to kill someone and doesn't even have to be near the victim, I'd say your deduction probably isn't that far off. However, without proof it's too dangerous to get close." Amuro stated. Shinichi looked back down at his coffee, trying to think of something that he could do to get that proof. Only the weapon itself came to mind.

"So, if I can find proof, the PSB can move in on him?" He asked hopefully, maybe he could just bypass L and the PSB could make the arrest.

"Unfortunately, we were all given strict orders to report anything we find on Kira to L. So it isn't worth the risk." Shinichi felt his heart sinking, Amuro couldn't do anything after all. "That doesn't mean I can't help."

Shinichi looked up at him. How did he intend to-?

"I can keep you informed on what the organisation knows of Kira." It wasn't much but it would at least keep him aware of how the Kira case was progressing and if they were getting close to the truth. "In the meantime, I'd suggest staying away from this Yagami Light just in case he catches onto your suspicions."

"I haven't given him any reason to think I suspect him. In fact, I haven't given him any indication that I'm even interested in the Kira case." Under normal circumstances maybe he would be but this is the kind of case he probably would have just left to L had he not met with the organisation. Or at most, he'd probably have joined the investigative team.

"Keep it that way."

oooOOOooo

"It doesn't seem like that kid knows anything." Ryuk offered as Light headed home after treating Conan to breakfast. He didn't respond immediately as he didn't want to appear to be talking to himself and sighed.

"Aa, it seems that he was more or less distracted by the bus-jacking and didn't even notice Raye Penbar. Even if he had, he couldn't have known he was an FBI agent." It seemed like Conan wasn't anything to worry about after all. He was interested in solving murder cases but only the ones that hit closer to home.

"That's good for him. Now Kira doesn't have to kill a kid." Ryuk chuckled. Light chanced throwing a glance his way.

"Not yet, anyway." As long as Conan continued to apply his intelligence to other things then he wouldn't have to. "It would be a shame to see such a sharp mind go to waste." Ryuk chuckled again.

"You really think he'll be a problem?"

"Maybe. If L takes notice of him then it might mean trouble for me." Although, no matter how intelligent Conan was, he was still a seven year old boy and it was unlikely that L would bother with children like that. Not when he had more pressing matters at hand.

"Can we stop and get apples on the way back?" Ryuk requested and Light sighed as he made it to the bus stop. As it happened, Beika district was on the other side of Tokyo from his house and he couldn't walk the entire way, which meant Ryuk was left to entertain himself as Light wouldn't be responding.

As per Ryuk's request, Light stopped and bought a few apples for the Shinigami at a nearby outdoor market. After the day's events he was just eager to get home.

"Light-kun!" He heard a familiar voice and turned to see Aoko, shopping bags in hand and two floating bags that he assumed was probably Kuroba. He hadn't had a chance to talk to her since last night shortly before the mess with the fire happened.

"Aoko-chan... Kuroba-kun?" He asked, looking at the floating bags held by someone's face he couldn't see.

"Yup! Kaito is helping with my grocery shopping." She said cheerily.

"Helping' is a word for it." Kuroba grumbled. "More like I'm a victim of extortion."

"Shut up Kaito." She snapped at the magician. Light sighed. Not this again. "You're the one that doesn't like fish and that's all we had for dinner."

"I can't help it! They have creepy eyes. Maybe you just shouldn't make it anymore." Kuroba defended himself.

"Aoko likes fish!" Was her response. He could tolerate her on some occasions but while she was around Kuroba was not one of them. Their constant bickering was annoying and he didn't have time to mediate. Ryuk, on the other hand couldn't help but be amused.

"I see." Light spoke, his voice somewhat soft as he weighed his options. "If Kuroba-kun really doesn't want to carry your bags then I would be happy to." The effect was immediate, Aoko's face brightened nearly instantaneously.

"Oh! That'd be great!"

"Oi! I didn't say I wouldn't do it." Kuroba changed his tone.

"You were the one complaining about extortion Bakaito." Aoko shot his way, he glared at her.

"It doesn't really bother me that much and I'm sure Yagami-kun has other things to be doing. Like studying." He looked over at Light, the look on his face clearly challenging him.

"Nothing that can't be put off for a moment to help Aoko-chan." He responded, watching the obvious jealousy on Kuroba's face. If he was going to continue to challenge him then it would be rude to ignore it.

"Light-kun is so nice!" Aoko said cheerily, "Unlike a certain someone..." Her tone flattened out and she cast a glare back at Kuroba. They were like children. They had to be separated if you wanted them to behave.

"I said, I got it. It's not really that big of a deal-I was kidding." Kuroba objected, taking a step back to keep Light, who hadn't moved, from getting the grocery bags. Aoko just sighed at him and turned her attention back to Light.

"It seems like he's going to insist. At least now he doesn't have a right to complain the rest of the way home." She offered him a small, surprisingly warm smile. He swallowed, hopefully they'd stop arguing now.

"I suppose he just needed the right incentive." Light offered, glancing over at the now grouchy magician. "Next time you need help with something like this, feel free to call since Kuroba-kun obviously isn't a fan."

"Mm!" Aoko nodded happily and started to leave. "See you later Light-kun!"

"Aoko-chan, wait." He grabbed her by the sleeve of her coat, pulling her slightly into him, making sure that his breath would touch her face by speaking low next to her ear. "Since our plans for today didn't work out-how about I treat you to a movie tomorrow?" He could practically _feel_ Kuroba seething. He was the one that started this. Her cheeks tinted pink and she looked away.

"U-Um... I guess. If you want." She stammered. "There is a movie out that Aoko wanted to see."

"Good." He let her go. "I'll call you tomorrow." If he thought he could get away with it, he would have kissed her goodbye just to see the look on the insufferable Magician's face. Unfortunately, due to the childish nature of her relationship with Kuroba it was highly unlikely she'd even had her first kiss. Now wasn't the time.

"Mm! Bye Light-kun" She moved away, heading in the direction of her house. Kuroba stood still a moment and Light waited to see what he had to say.

"What do you want from her?" Kuroba finally demanded. He did his best to appear confused.

"What do you mean, Kuroba-kun? I want to take her to see a movie. I happen to like her." He straightened his coat, watching Kuroba seethe. It almost made up for the fact he hadn't been able to discover Conan's method of using other people to solve murders for him.

Kuroba took in a breath and it looked like he was about to say something.

"Kaito! Get back here!" Aoko called from down the walkway. Kuroba looked back towards her and then back at Light.

"I'm watching you, Yagami." He stated before following after Aoko. Once he'd gone Light let out a sigh. What was it about those two that made him want to respond to their childish antics? Aoko, at least tended to be calm and level headed when Kuroba wasn't around, though she was still quick to anger should certain subjects arise.

"I thought you said you didn't have a crush." Ryuk stated. Light's eyes narrowed in annoyance.

"I don't." He said flatly. "However, if Kuroba insists on challenging me then I will respond. Besides, Aoko is the daughter of Inspector Nakamori-head of second division and fairly well respected. It would only make sense for Soichiro's son to fall for her. It's a smart match."

"Just as expected of Light, always scheming." Ryuk chuckled.

"Aa." Light agreed, reaching into the bag of apples and, after checking to make sure no one was around, tossed one to the Shinigami. "After all, how could someone like Kira fall in love?"


	18. Flashback

It wasn't often that Shinichi needed to assume the 'Sherlock Holmes' position as his typical finger on chin method usually served him just fine. No, the Sherlock Holmes way of thinking was reserved for the extremely difficult cases where he just couldn't find the right answer. Like the Kira case. He'd made his way into his dad's library and climbed up in the arm chair. It wasn't enough to sit like Sherlock Holmes, he had to be by Sherlock Holmes. He curled his knees in, tucking his elbows in and pressing his hands together as if in prayer. This spot of the house always helped him to think clearer.

Now, he needed to take himself back to the bus incident-replay it in his head but this time, really pay attention to what's around him. He took in a deep, calming breath and closed his eyes as he tried to remember that day-walking with the kids ten steps ahead towards the bus. He remembers Ayumi's voice telling him and Haibara to hurry up or they'd be left behind. He stepped on to the bus and looked around-the detective boys were there, an elderly couple were at the front and a not so elderly couple were in the side facing seats. Yagami and his date were sitting near the back-just in front of the FBI agent, Raye Penbar. He thought it was suspicious and traded seats with Haibara to keep any eye on things.

Then it happened-Osoreda stepped onto the bus, his hands shoved in his pockets to conceal the gun. He didn't waste time with taking over the bus.

"I'll kill anyone that makes a scene!" He remembered the voice perfectly and the startled screams and yells from the other passengers. He wasn't hallucinating then. What happened? Something had to have happened.

His mind moved quickly through the exchange between Osoreda and the bus driver-no signs of hallucinations there. He moved on to the moment Haibara shoved him off the seat and Osoreda turned the gun on him-nothing there. His mind moves on. Yagami's date stood up to try and protect him Yagami stood up to shield her-Nothing there.

Wait.

No.

Go back.

There was something there-what was it? His mind replays the moment Yagami stood up to protect his date. Everything appears to be moving in slow motion as a piece of paper tumbles out of his pocket. There!

Osoreda picked it up and threw it back at Yagami and then-

"Listen up! Don't make any sudden moves or else-" And that was the moment the hallucinations started. The answer hit him like a ton of bricks-whatever had been on that paper made Osoreda react the way that he did. And if his memory is replaying things correctly then Kira couldn't be anyone other than Yagami Light.

His eyes snapped open and he took a deep breath before checking his watch and seeing he'd been sitting there for over four hours. It was probably too late to have a feasible excuse to visit the Yagami house now. He needed to know what was on that paper and to search Yagami's room. There had to be some kind of evidence.

"Oi Kudou." Hattori's voice snapped him out of his thoughts and he looked up at the Osakan. "You've been busy all day. We haven't had time ta talk." Oh, that's right. He wanted to talk to Hattori about his moral dilemma to see what he thought about it.

"Yeah, sorry. Things got a little out of hand." Shinichi offered. Hattori looked at him seriously and then glanced around the library. If anyone knew him better than Ran it'd have to be Hattori-He was well versed in all the little tics and mannerisms Shinichi had so he noticed when something was bothering him. Knowing how much Shinichi adored Sherlock Holmes he probably knew why Shinichi had hid away in here. Which meant that he should know that he wanted to be alone.

"No kiddin'" He didn't press the issue-also something he knew better than to do. "I heard there was a murder I missed. Lame, I haven' had a good case in awhile thanks ta' Kira." Shinichi raised an eyebrow at him.

"It wasn't that exciting. If you say it like that, it makes it sound like you want people to get murdered." He pointed out. Hattori just gave him a dishonest grin. He didn't have time for this.

"I know, I know. Crime rate goin' down is a good thing." He waved if off. "Anyways, yer the one that asked me ta' come out this time. Did ya have a case ya wanted to share with yer best friend?" He wouldn't really say he _wanted_ to share it. Why did Hattori have to get involved in everything? Sure, Shinichi had been the one to call and ask him to come to Tokyo but that was no excuse. He took a breath to keep his calm. Why was he so annoyed?

Shinichi adjusted his position on the chair so that he was sitting cross-legged with his fingers steepled together.

"The Organisation wants Kira's weapon." He finally said after several seconds of silence while he'd debated internally if her really wanted to tell Hattori this information. The effect it had on the Osakan was about as appropriate and elegant as Shinichi would have expected, that is to say that the words Hattori used to convey his feelings were-

"Shit." Hattori breathed. "I mean, it's not surprisin' but aw shit. That ain't good." Shinichi just took in another breath.

"It's worse than that." He exhaled, trying to keep his breathing calm and even. "They already have someone in the Kira task force."

"Fuck." Hattori cursed, continuing to react appropriately and somehow voicing Shinichi's own thoughts on the matter.

"Yeah..." Shinichi said solemnly. "To make matters even worse, Vermouth wants me to find Kira. She gave me six months-I'm down to five."

"Oh man, Kudou. Yer just not havin' a good time with this case, are ya?" No, Shinichi had to say that he was not. "So ya got any leads? As to where ta find Kira?"

"I have more than that. I know who Kira _is_." Shinichi confessed.

"Y-you do? Yer kiddin'!" Hattori blinked incredulously. Why would he joke about that? Take a deep breath. "Man Kudou, I knew ya were good, but damn. You may have surpassed L."

"Yes. There's no one else it can be, but I still don't know how. And even if I did-if I turn him in then the organisation comes in hard and fast. They'd get his weapon." Shinichi exhaled again, still focused on keeping calm.

"And now yer drivin' yerself nuts wonderin' which is the lesser of two evils. You feel like ya gotta decide between the organisation gettin' Kira or Kira gettin' the organisation since he's bound to eventually." Hattori hit right on the mark as leaned against the door frame of the library. Shinichi could feel his gaze and it wasn't helping to calm his nerves. "So what do you want ta do?"

"I don't know." Shinichi nearly snapped but just managed to keep his voice calm. "There is no good option. I can't turn Kira in and I can't let Kira continue to murder criminals as he pleases. Obviously, turning the information over to Vermouth is not even an option." He took another breath.

"I don't know Kudou, I know ya don't want to but maybe ya should look at like this-which has th' least amount o' casualties?" That was it, Shinichi's temper reached the top.

"They're not _casualties_ Hattori, they're human _lives!_ " He snapped. He hadn't meant to, but the idea of letting one kill the other made his stomach churn. There _had_ to be another way. He wouldn't accept that there wasn't. He pressed his hands together again as Sherlock Holmes would have done and closed his eyes, trying to ignore the Osakan's presence. "If I could just destroy his weapon..."

Hattori sighed and moved further into the room, coming over and leaning against the desk. It was annoying.

"Hattori, please!" Shinichi's eyes snapped open. "You're not making this easy."

"Kudou. Yer not thinkin' this through. If ya get too close ta Kira he will kill you. It ain't anythin' you can defend against either if all he needs is yer name and yer face." Hattori tried to reason with him. Shinichi only rolled his eyes.

"He might have my face, but he doesn't have my name." He pointed out. Hattori wasn't convinced.

"If I figured out th' truth then I just bet he can too." Shinichi only sucked in another breath and tried to ignore the comment. "It's still too much of a risk-and It ain't just yer life on th' line." Shinichi grit his teeth, willing Hattori to just go away.

"And do you have a better plan?" He demanded, eyes snapping open and lowering his hands. Hattori stared at him a good long moment. Of course he didn't because there wasn't one. Shinichi had to find out what Kira's weapon was and destroy it so it couldn't fall into the hands of the organisation.

oooOOOooo

Light didn't know where his mother or sister were but apparently, wherever they were, they couldn't answer the door. Whoever was ringing the doorbell was showing no signs of stopping and it was getting -really- annoying. With a groan, he forced himself off his bed and moved down to the front door, checking the peephole before he yanked it open and looked down at Conan. He was wearing a scarf and a jacket that didn't look very thick holding up a Sherlock Holmes book.

"Conan-kun?" He stepped out to see if Ran or detective Mouri were around but he appeared to be alone. "What are you doing here? Isn't this a bit far for you to be travelling on your own?"

"I know but-! Since it's January sixth there's a Sherlock Holmes festival near here and I really want to go!" Conan stated, still holding his book. Oh, that's right, Conan was a big fan of Sherlock Holmes. Light looked him over carefully, he didn't appear to be up to anything.

"So you're going alone?" Wait. If Conan was here, holding up the book and telling him about the festival-

"Well... I'm not really old enough to go by myself and Ran-neechan and Kogoro-ojisan are both busy." He knew exactly where this was headed. "Will you please go with me?"

"Aww, isn't that cute?" Ryuk commented. "Go with him, Light."

Light stared down at him for a good few moments before breathing in. Did he really want to spend an afternoon at some Sherlock Holmes event with Conan? The boy had already removed himself from the list of potential threats. For the moment, anyway. There'd be nothing to gain from it.

"What's so special about January sixth?" He asked, his mind not yet made up.

"It's Sherlock Holmes' birthday today!" Conan said excitedly. "I mean-January twenty-ninth is way more significant since that's the day Holmes met Watson." Was he going to be like this all day? "Pleeaaseee?"

Watching him talk-no, gush about his favorite book and then beg to be taken to this festival helped to remind Light that despite his intelligence, Conan really was just a child. He let out a sigh, knowing he was going to regret this later.

"I suppose, if no one else is available, I'll go with you." He finally caved.

"Not even Kira can say no to a cute kid." Ryuk chuckled and Light shot him a glare.

"Really? YAY!" Conan exclaimed excitedly, jumping up once. Definitely a child, no one could fake that enthusiasm. Light stepped back from the door, motioned for Conan to come inside and led him up the stairs. He hadn't yet gotten dressed for the day so Conan was going to have to wait a few minutes longer before they could leave.

"I'll just be a couple of minutes." Light advised. Conan nodded and moved over to the bookshelf. As long as he didn't look around too much he wouldn't find anything he shouldn't.

"Wow! you have a lot of books! Do you read mysteries?" He asked. Conan seemed much more energetic than Light had seen him in the past. Was he really that excited about this festival? Thinking back, he did remember Conan only just started talking to him when the subject of Sherlock Holmes was brought up. Apparently, that was all it took to gain his trust.

"Sometimes." Light answered, watching him as he sat down to start pulling books out. Wait! That one was-"Conan-kun." He knelt down to stop him from pulling _that_ book out. "Just wait on the bed, okay?"

"Oka-" Conan started to say but he was cut off by several loud popping noises. "That sounds like-!" In the next instant Conan was headed for the door but Light caught his arm. Oh no. They were not playing that game again.

"Stay. Here. I'll go." He told him, the last thing he needed was for Conan to get kidnapped. Again. Conan let out a loud, exasperated sigh.

"Fine." He crossed his arms. Light stood up again, and patted his head before leaving out the door.

oooOOOooo

The moment Yagami left the room Shinichi let out a sigh and dropped the facade of Edogawa Conan. He glanced around the room and moved immediately to the bookcase Light hadn't wanted him near and pulled the same book out. Glancing inside only revealed he was hiding some risky magazines. No wonder he didn't want Conan near it.

He slid the magazines back into the casing, cheeks now a little red and looked around again. It would really help if Shinichi had any idea what he was supposed to be looking for. Whatever it was-it couldn't be easily accessible but a quick look around the walls and ceiling said that he hadn't hidden it there. Where else...?

He moved over to the desk, noting the obvious key in the lock of the drawer...Maybe? He turned the key to pull it open. Just a notebook. But that was weird, based on the rough estimate of the length and width of the drawer it should be at least a few-oh.

It was a false bottom. Yagami _was_ hiding something. He immediately pulled the journal out but stopped before he tried to rip bottom up. This was Kira. A serial killer that had manipulated an FBI agent into showing him his badge and then subsequently killed the twelve agents on the Kira case. It wouldn't be this easy. He felt around to the back of the drawer. How could he get it open?

He examined the sides of the desk and desk drawer but there wasn't anything that stood out. Maybe underneath? He got on his hands and knees to check. There was a small hole near the front, he poked it with his finger to gauge the size. Really small. He glanced around for something that would might fit.

Unfortunately, Shinichi's search was cut short as he could hear Yagami coming up the stairs and moving quickly towards the room. He hurriedly put the notebook back and pushed the drawer closed.

oooOOOooo

It hadn't sounded like gunfire, but it still warranted checking out. Light shut the front door and quickly determined the direction the noise had come from. The alley. Of course the alley. There was nothing immediately suspicious in the entrance so he stepped a little further in. Off in the distance he could see something orange on the ground and ventured over to it.

Fire crackers?

"Where'd those come from?" Ryuk asked from behind him. Light turned to face the Shinigami, not bothering to hide his annoyance.

"Why aren't you watching Conan?" He demanded. Wait. Conan. Had he done this? He looked at the exploded firecrackers carefully. Was it possible that Conan had shown up so early because he knew Light wouldn't be dressed yet and he'd have to be let in. Leaving Conan to just wait for the sound to lure him out?

He cursed under his breath and turned to run back to the house, racing up the stairs and tearing his door open.

He was almost surprised to see Conan sitting on the bed like he hadn't moved with his nose in that Sherlock Holmes book. He took a breath to calm himself. No. Conan couldn't have planned that. He couldn't have known that Light would even agree to taking him to the festival. He glanced towards his drawer and his blood ran cold as he noticed the key was turned in a different direction.

"Conan-kun..." Light started, keeping his voice as calm as he could. "Did you open my drawer?"


	19. Plaza

(Light)

"Conan-kun… did you open my drawer?" Light had to take several breaths to keep himself calm. If he lost his temper then the little brat wouldn't tell him anything. If he stayed calm and tried to reason with him then Conan just might be willing to tell him the truth. If he gave the wrong answer then… Well then, little Edogawa Conan wouldn't be making it back home tonight.

He watched the brief look of shock and fear that crossed over the child's face as his eyes darted to the desk drawer. How he answered the question would tell Light if Conan really hadn't meant anything by it, or if he was a master manipulator and had staged the whole thing. Well Conan, which was it?

"I…" He watched the younger carefully. "I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have-but the key was right there and I was curious." He spat out quickly. Light took in a breath. Did he believe that? He certainly looked sorry.

"Guess you're going to have to kill him after all." Ryuk offered, not at all helpful. Light took in another deep breath and thought about how he should deal with this. If Conan had touched the Death Note then he would have reacted to Ryuk but he'd shown no indication that he'd even seen him. He had to assume for now, that Conan was just an overly curious child. Which, come to think of it, he had been warned about upon their first meeting. He took another breath, shoving his anger aside. Maybe he needed to keep a closer eye on Conan after all.

"It's not good to get into other people's things." He finally said. "I have some stuff in this room that your eyes are just a little too young for." He changed to a more good-natured tone and locked the desk again.

"Like what?" Of course he'd ask that.

"Worry about it when you're older." He ruffled Conan's hair and then moved to continue getting ready for the day.

"What was that sound anyway? It didn't really sound like a gun. Could have been an airgun, I guess…" Conan asked, now that he was out of trouble he was back to asking questions.

"Firecrackers. Some kids probably set them off to scare people." No, there was no way Conan had been able to manipulate him like that. If he had then he wouldn't have owned up to opening the drawer. He was just a curious child and he should have remembered that. "Now, stay there while I get ready-better yet, why don't you wait downstairs?"

"Okay…" Conan let out a defeated sigh, gathered his book up and moved out of the room. That was one less thing he had to stress about.

oooOOOooo

The entire walk to the plaza the festival would be held at they'd spent mostly in silence, Conan trailing just a few steps behind him and unaware of the shinigami that was floating directly above him. He couldn't get the idea that he'd been played out of his head. There were moments in which it seemed that Conan couldn't be anything but a child but then there were were also times that he just seemed far too mature-his stance would change to reflect that of someone older and his tone dropped down to cold and calculating.

Light had no doubt that there was _something_ up with this kid. What that could be, he had no idea. Perhaps there was a reason Conan wanted to be more adult like-it did tend to happen more when he was working on a case.

He spared a glance back at Conan to see his gaze was pointed down, a serious expression on his face-almost like he was worried about something. He glanced up at Ryuk.

"He's not one for conversation, is he?" The Shinigami offered. Light didn't comment and continued on. This was another of those moments where there was just something about the kid that just felt off. Maybe it was trauma of some kind-genius children were more likely to face abuse due to the fact most people didn't know how to react to them. Being a genius himself, even Light wasn't quite sure how to handle him. Although he seemed to get more out of him when he was calm and tried to reason with Conan.

"Conan-kun." Light stopped walking and apparently Conan hadn't been paying attention because he felt his small form bump into him.

"Eh?" Conan looked up, the expression on his face couldn't be anything but innocent. He sighed.

"If you're still concerned about earlier-I'm not that upset, but you should practice better manners." He told the child who blinked like he didn't quite know what he was talking about.

"Oh." He looked down. Had that not been it? What had this kid so pensive? Light sighed again and resumed walking.

It wasn't exactly a festival but it certainly seemed to be some form of mystery event. There were crowds of people all over, vendors selling mystery novels, an area for artists, as well as a trivia corner and a place to get food. Each station was labeled with a place from the books. It could do without the birthday banner though. Light looked down at Conan and noticed he'd never looked more like a child. How could he have ever suspected?

"Was there anything you wanted to do specifically?" Light asked as Conan looked around the room, no doubt deciding where he wanted to start. If he had wanted to manipulate Light into doing anything it was drag him here. Conan didn't say anything in response though and headed straight to the mystery novel section, he should have expected that. He probably shouldn't let him venture too far on his own though-Light had learned very quickly not to take his eyes off the kid.

Luckily, Conan seemed content to sit over by the mystery novel section and seemed to be talking excitedly to a young woman with light brown hair. What they were talking about, Light didn't really know but if he had to take a guess he'd say they were talking about a mystery novel.

"Light-kun?" That voice. He took in a breath and held it as he turned to face Aoko. It wasn't her that he didn't want to deal with but her possessive best friend. However, upon turning to face her he noticed that Kuroba didn't seem to be around. Instead she was with that blonde detective-Hakuba.

"Aoko-chan. What a pleasant surprise." He offered her a smile. It was pleasant as long as Kuroba wasn't around. "I didn't know you were a fan of mysteries." She smiled back.

"Mmhm! I like detectives." She stated cheerily. The detective next to her blushed ever so slightly. That's right. He liked her too. "But Hakuba-kun's the reason I'm here-he's a really dedicated Sherlockian."

"That's true, and since I know Aoko-kun's taste in novels I thought I should invite her out with me. She's fairly well versed in all things Holmsian herself." Hakuba offered.

"Guilty as charged. I also like Inspector Ganimard in the Lupin novels. Just don't tell Kaito I've read them."

"My lips are sealed." Hakuba responded.

"Speaking of Kuroba-kun, I don't see him around anywhere." Light commented. Hakuba and Aoko both looked guilty. Did Kuroba not know they were here?

"Um.. Kaito likes to sleep in and he's not so big on detectives. He calls them critics." Aoko explained.

"Just like someone else I know..." Hakuba muttered under his breath, what was that about?

"-So Hakuba-kun and I thought we should just go without him." It was rare to catch her out without Kuroba somewhere nearby. This meant she'd probably stay calm and level headed-he much preferred her this way.

"We're also not telling Kuroba-kun, he... well, he's not the most understanding-especially when it comes to me." The detective stated.

"They fight constantly." Aoko sighed. "It's really annoying." Maybe it was just Kuroba that made people act childishly. Then again, they did both like the same girl. That probably caused a good amount of tension. "So what brings Light-kun to this-"

"KYAAH!"

Aoko was cut off by a terrified scream and they all three turned to see a man had collapsed and fallen on-oh you're kidding. Light moved over quickly to unpin Conan from the man. What was this kid, a magnet for dead bodies?

"Conan-kun! Are you okay?" He glanced up at Ryuk who shrugged. Useless.

"U-um yeah." Conan started, it looked like he was still processing what had just happened. "But Isobe-Keibu!" he turned to the man. Isobe... why did that name sound familiar? Conan pulled his arm away from Light and moved to check for a pulse. He let out a breath and shook his head sadly. Was this another murder?

"Time of Death 10.23.14" Hakuba stated, looking at his pocket watch before shutting with a snap. "Conan-kun, what happened?" Conan took a breath and looked down at the body of Isobe.

"I don't-I don't know." He confessed. "We were talking about Holmes trivia and he-" He looked back at the body.

"He's really dead?" Aoko asked from where she was standing behind Light. He nodded. "My dad knew him." she admitted. "He's head of the arson department."

He turned slightly to grab her coat sleeve and pulled her closer in a one armed hug. The last time he'd tried for a comforting hug she shoved him away-this time she didn't. Good.

Hakuba had put on some gloves and knelt down to silently inspect the body, grabbing the arm and looking it over carefully before moving up to the face.

"I don't see any evidence of foul play." Hakuba finally announced after a few minutes. "I can't say for certain, but I believe he succumbed to a heart attack." Was that why the name sounded familiar?

"Kira?" Light chanced asking.

"I don't know. Isobe-Keibu was fairly well liked so it could conceivably have been due to health issues. Not to mention, Isobe-keibu wasn't on the Kira task force-he heads arson and bomb disposal."

"That's terrible." Aoko voiced, "Um.. I'll go call the police." She pulled away from Light and stepped away..

"Although, I know that there were rumours about a few claims of sexual assault brought up in internal affairs-none of it went very far though and nothing was ever proven. So his job was never placed in jeopardy, though he was under investigation." Hakuba said thoughtfully, reaching into the dead man's pocket and pulling out his phone. "If I remember right there was a newspaper that leaked that story…" . The blinking red light and small icon indicated that he had a missed voice message. Oh, that's right. He did write that name in. It was just an annoying coincidence he just happened to be nearby when the power of the Death Note took hold.

It took Hakuba a moment but he was able to bypass the security PIN and played the message.

" _This is your insurance agent. Your claim went through, you have full coverage_."

"Well that isn't helpful." Hakuba sighed. Light looked back to see what Conan was doing, as he'd been abnormally quiet during all of this and noticed he seemed frozen to be the spot. A look of unseen horror and cold sweat running down his face.

oooOOOooo

(Shinichi)

"Conan-kun...did you open my drawer?" Shinichi's eyes widened slightly and he glanced over at the desk drawer. He'd forgotten to put the key back the right way. Shit! What was he supposed to do now? He looked back up at Yagami-no, Kira. His mind raced in several different directions at once-he had to say something and he couldn't lie because Yagami could see that he had indeed opened that drawer.

"I..." He started, watching the expression on Yagami's face. "I'm sorry! I know I shouldn't have-but the key was right there and I was curious." He offered the best apologetic look he could muster.

He could feel his heartbeat increasing the longer Yagami stared at him. The older took in a breath and seemed to be trying to calm himself down. Did that work?

"It's not good to get into other people's things." Yagami finally voiced, "I have some stuff in this room that your eyes are just a little too young for." He moved over to his drawer and locked it back up.

"Like what?" He may as well continue the facade of the overly curious Conan. Yagami sighed.

"Worry about that when you're older." He ruffled Shinichi's hair a bit.

"What was that sound anyway?" Firecrackers. He already knew the answer. "It didn't really sound like a gun. Could have been an airgun, I guess…"

"Firecrackers." Yagami responded, his temper seemed to have settled. "Some kids probably set them off to scare people." Or to use as a distraction to allow time to search the room. "Now, stay there while I get ready-better yet, why don't you wait downstairs?"

"Okay..." Of course it wouldn't be that easy. Yagami knew now that Conan couldn't be trusted not to get into things. Once he was out side Yagami's door though, he couldn't help but to sigh quietly in relief. That was close.

oooOOOooo

Shinichi spent most of the entire walk to the plaza deep in thought. He thought about the fact that he now knew who Kira was and where to find the weapon but it wasn't going to be easy. The only security he had against Yagami was that 'Edogawa Conan' was not his real name but the moment Yagami knew that then it could mean a lot of trouble for a lot of people.

Was Hattori right to think about it in terms of less casualties? It wasn't like this was a war. It was just that a highly dangerous criminal organisation wanted the weapon of mass murderer and had infiltrated the task force set to bring said murderer to justice in hopes of an opportunity to strike. It wasn't a war - _yet_ \- anyway. He needed to keep it from becoming one.

"-Oof." He let out as he'd accidentally walked right into Yagami's legs. "Eh?" He looked up with the best innocent face he could muster. Yagami just sighed.

"If you're still concerned about earlier-I'm not that upset, but you should practice better manners." He told the small boy. Shinichi blinked, practice what?

"Oh." It was probably a good thing Yagami wasn't holding that mishap against him. He must have accepted the fact that children will get into things even if you tell them not to. Yagami resumed walking and Shinichi followed after him.

The plaza quickly took his mind off the unpleasant subject of Kira vs. the Black Organisation as it was set up like a mystery novel convention-he even recognised a few of the authors. He heard Yagami saying something but he wasn't listening and moved over to Shinmei Kaori to talk about the newest Samonji book. Maybe he could trick her into giving him hints about the resolution for the latest case.

"Kaori-neesan!" He chirped excitedly, getting her attention. She looked down at him and then smiled as recognition set in.

"Conan-kun! I guess I shouldn't be surprised to see you here. It's been awhile." Her tone started to break off though as the last time she'd seen Conan and Mouri family had been right after her father's death. "How have you been? Keeping up with detective Samonji?"

"You bet! I got the new one just the other day! It's really exciting!" He responded happily.

"Thank you for saying so-I still worry that it's not as good as Dad's writing." In all honesty it wasn't quite the same as the late Shinmei Nintaro but it still kept him on the edge of his seat and reading well into the early hours of the morning. "Have you figured out the trick?" She questioned.

"No, not yet… this one's really hard." He had theories of course. "I was thinking that one person said something pretty weird so I think they probably know something." Kaori giggled as he fell into thought about who fictional murderer could be.

"Aa, Conan-kun. No surprise to see you here." A voice caught his attention and turned to see one of the Police Inspectors he knew fairly well, Isobe Yusei the head of the arson and bomb disposal unit and fellow Sherlockian.

"Mm! It's inspired by Sherlock Holmes, after all." Isobe laughed good-naturedly and patted his head.

"Good to see you not in some kind of trouble involving a bomb." He stated. Shinichi had to agree-the bombs were getting to a point he just found them annoying.

"Not today! I'm just here for new mysteries to read and of course the Sherlock Holmes trivia." He would wipe the floor with anyone that dared to challenge his knowledge of the Sherlock Holmes series. Isobe laughed again.

"Don't think I'll go easy on you, just because you're a kid." He stated.

"That's fine I wouldn't want you to-" Shinichi stopped mid-sentence though Isobe suddenly reached for his heart and started to fall forwards-he heard Kaori scream and very suddenly had a lot of extra weight on top of him. What the hell?

"Conan-kun! Are you okay?" He heard Yagami asking as he moved the now dead inspector off of him. Had Yagami done that? But if so that meant he could freely manipulate the times of his victims' deaths-practically schedule them. "But Isobe-keibu!" He voiced, moving to press a finger to the inspector's pulse. His breath caught and he shook his head.

"Time of Death 10.23.14" He heard the familiar voice of Hakuba Saguru. "Conan-kun, what happened?" He asked. Shinichi took a breath and looked down at the dead inspector and then up at Hakuba.

"I don't-I don't know." He confessed. "We were talking about Holmes trivia and then…" He looked back at the body. Was this Kira? Did Yagami do this? He needed to know.

"He's really dead?" Aoko asked from where she was standing behind Yagami. "My dad knew him." she admitted. "He's head of the arson department."

Hakuba applied some gloves he'd had in his pockets and gently moved Conan out of the way so he could inspect the body. There was no reason for Yagami to kill Isobe, he wasn't a criminal. Maybe it had been health related?

"I don't see any evidence of foul play." Hakuba finally announced after a few minutes. "I can't say for certain, but I believe he succumbed to a heart attack."

"Kira?" Yagami asked. Shinichi chanced looking his way. Was that a secret confession?

"I don't know." Hakuba answered. "Isobe-Keibu was fairly well liked so it could conceivably have been due to health issues. Not to mention, he wasn't on the Kira task force-he heads arson and bomb disposal." He couldn't allow this to happen again. This was his fault because hadn't told L what he actually knew and now-But if he turned Yagami in then the Organisation would undoubtedly- He could hear the others discussing something but he had it tuned out for the most part and then-

" _This is your insurance agent. Your claim went through, you have full coverage_."

Oh god.

 _That voice._

It was a little distorted but he'd never forget that voice as long as he lived-the sound of it had made it feel as though his heart had stopped beating and he'd been suddenly plunged into ice cold water.

 _Vodka._


	20. Suspects

Deep down, Shinichi had always suspected that there had to be someone on the police force that was in contact with the organisation. There was too much that got swept under the rug-Akemi's murder came immediately to mind. That case should have never been ruled as a murder-suicide. The bullet in Akemi's stomach did not come from the gun in her hand, not to mention the placement of the fingerprints were all wrong for someone that had shot their self in the stomach at that angle. It was murder. It was so obviously murder but the police didn't investigate. Just thinking about it made him mad.

There were other instances too-the 'terrorist' attack on Tokyo tower, the bombing of the twin buildings and several instances or arson. It made a twisted kind of sense that it was Isobe who was ruling cases certain ways. Was he a member or-he hated the thought-a client? Had he always been corrupt? When Shinichi was little, he could remember talking to Isobe about Sherlock Holmes-he'd been friends with his dad for god's sake-what happened?

A far more pressing question invaded his head as he stared blankly; Did Yagami kill Isobe? Did it matter? Would the organisation believe that his death was due to poor health or would they assume that Kira had killed him? If that were the case this could be seen as a devastating blow to the organisation as they'd have to reestablish contacts within the police in order to keep certain cases from coming to light.

Had Yagami just unwittingly opened Pandora's box?

"-kun!" Would the organisation retaliate? If so, how would they do it? They had no idea who Kira was so how could they retaliate? Would they double their efforts in their own investigation or would they try to send a message to Kira?

"-Nan-kun!" He started to drift back to the present as his aliases name was repeated several times. The world came back into focus and he found someone staring at him.

 _Ran?_

She had her hands on his shoulders. When did she get there? "Conan-kun, are you okay?" She placed a hand against his cheek to gauge the temperature of his skin and pressed her forehead into his. He cheeks warmed immediately and he tried to pull away.

"I-I'm fine." He stammered, not really expecting anyone to believe it. Where was he anyway? How long had he tuned the word out for this time? Ran was still in her karate uniform complete with her hair tied up-she must have come straight from practice.

"We thought you were having a seizure!" She stated her voice close to breaking.

"Eh?" A seizure, why would he-?

"You've had so many close calls with head injuries-I thought-!" She didn't finish her thought and just hugged him to her chest. Ran didn't generally resort to this kind of comfort unless something really bad had happened- like nearly getting killed in an avalanche or the time Ran's teacher was revealed to be a murderer. Had he really been trapped in his thoughts that long?

"I-I'm okay." He said softly, not doing anything to pull away from her hug. It was nice and.. Very carefully, he moved to wrap his small arms around her as best he could.

"Don't scare me like that." She told him, still holding him tightly against her. "You were completely unresponsive."

"Post Traumatic Stress Disorder." Hakuba said the words in english, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. "More commonly known as PTSD." He switched back to Japanese. "Based on the symptoms-it's quite possible that young Conan-kun is suffering from it." That was ridiculous, who asked him anyway? He was in the middle of traumatic stress. There was nothing 'post' about it.

"But usually nothing phases him." Ran stated, her hold on the little detective relaxing as she looked up at Hakuba.

"I'm not a therapist, so I can't say for sure based on one isolated incident-" Hakuba explained. "But it seemed to be that something about the message recorded on Inspector Isobe's phone triggered the response." Shut. Up. Hakuba. Don't call attention to that!

"No! I'm fine." Shinichi pushed himself free of Ran's grip. "I just-I just-" What could he say? The voice on the phone had triggered him just as Hakuba had suggested but they couldn't know that, they might want to investigate!

"Ran-san, how much do you know of Conan-kun's life before he started living with you and your father?" Hakuba wasn't listening. Ran thought about the question. This wasn't good. He needed to steer them away from that subject but any protesting he did would only be ignored.

"...Come to think of it, Conan-kun doesn't really talk about that." Ran was saying. "I know that his parents were involved in a terrible accident which was why he started staying with my dad and me. But, they recovered and moved overseas. Conan-kun didn't want to go with them. Did you?" She looked down at him and his breath caught. Why was this happening? Just because he'd had a bit of a panic attack was no reason to question his made up life. It wasn't like he could tell them the truth.

"I'm fine." He tried again, putting a little more strength into the words. "I promise. I just… Isobe-keibu was a friend." Sort of. He certainly hadn't expected this turn of events. It was shocking enough to find that someone his dad had considered a friend at one point was capable of this kind of thing but the idea of how the organisation would react… he swallowed.

"Oh Conan-kun, I'm sorry." He heard Ran saying before she pulled him into another hug. He chanced looking around the room, noticing that he hadn't really moved and the plaza was mostly empty aside from a few officers.

"Where'd Light-niisan go?" He asked. Was it just Hakuba and Ran?

"He's walking Aoko-kun home. Although, he did wait until after Ran-san got here." Hakuba explained. "We were all quite worried. The look on your face-if you were a soldier I would have said you were having a 'war flashback.'" It was probably not far from accurate. "Well, It seems you're back now, and after that episode you probably need something to eat."

"I'm-" He started to say he wasn't hungry but his stomach betrayed him as he hadn't really eaten anything since dinner yesterday. "Maybe I could eat a little."

"Come on, I'll treat you both." Hakuba offered. Shinichi just looked up at Ran to see what she thought-he could still see tears in her eyes. He hadn't meant to make her worry like that.

"Thank you, Hakuba-kun. We appreciate that." She got to her feet, wiped her eyes and offered him her hand.

oooOOOooo

Over in another part of town, in the penthouse of a very nice hotel a certain task force was making just a little progress on the Kira case. Things were still tense on the investigative team as the Kira task force members were forced to get along and adjust to their extremely eccentric lead investigator-L.

He was nothing like anyone would have imagined-unruly raven hair, a slouch, no shoes and jeans and a plain white long sleeved shirt. The dark circles under his eyes made it seem as though he'd never slept a day in his life and honestly, no one on the investigative team would be surprised to find out if he hadn't.

L had reviewed and had the task force review the tapes of agent Raye Penbar's death that he'd received from the head of the FBI-James Black. He promised to work with L under the table but he had another ongoing investigation in Japan that couldn't be jeopardized by Kira. He didn't know what investigation could possibly be more important but James had made it clear he would not be loaning L anymore agents. This was what he had to work with.

None of the investigators were too thrilled with the fact they were going to be wiring up the households of the families that he suspected Kira might be in-The Yagami Household, and the chief superintendent Hakuba's household. It would be a little difficult keeping an eye on the Hakuba household as the possible suspect, Saguru, was in and out of the house so frequently he was left to question if there was even a point to wiring the house. In two days the surveillance would be set up and he could begin monitoring the two household's.

For now, the only thing he could really do is wait for the police to locate Naomi Misora's phone and review the tapes of the FBI agent's death. He wasn't making nearly enough progress. His mind drifted back to the little boy that he'd met just a few night's ago-Edogawa Conan. That sharp little mind would be a great asset to their team and L had no doubt that he knew more than he admitted to. He'd like the opportunity to question him again but as it turned out, Conan was not such an easy person to get a hold of and the team he'd been occasionally consulting for was more than willing to protect him. If he wanted to consult on the Kira case he would, as he'd been advised.

He needed to know what Conan knew-he'd seen it on his face that night-there was definitely something that Edogawa Conan had knowledge of that would help the investigation but why did he lie and say that he hadn't? Fear of Kira? That was unlikely as it would be complete secret that he'd consulted a seven year old.

No. There was something more. Something that kept him from offering up the truth no matter how badly he wanted to let it out. Unfortunately, he'd never be able to convince the current investigative team to wire up the Mouri detective agency so he could figure the reason for Conan's blatant lie.

"Everything should be ready by the eighth." He heard one of the team saying-Matsuda if he remembered correctly. "I still can't believe the chief is going along with this." He sighed.

"If it means my family will be cleared of suspicion then of course I'll put up with it." Soichiro responded, sounding a bit stressed. Chief Yagami had two children-a son and a daughter that were under possible suspicion and from what he knew of Light Yagami's intelligence made him a good candidate for being the prime suspect. However, it couldn't be denied that Saguru Hakuba was also highly intelligent and did somewhat fit the profile he'd built in his head for Kira.

"We will keep surveillance for ten days. That should be sufficient enough to determine if the families are innocent." L stated lazily. "Please bear with it until then."

"Chief Yagami!" One of the other investigators came into the room in a hurry-Aizawa. "-I just got a call from the station. It seems that Inspector Isobe suffered a fatal heart attack." He announced, causing a stunned silence.

"Kira?" L asked when no one else dared to.

"We don't know yet-an autopsy has been ordered but according to his wife he didn't have any existing heart conditions she was aware of."

"Why would Kira kill a police inspector that's not even on the Kira case?" Soichiro wanted to know.

"It probably has something to do with the newspaper article claiming he was under investigation for sexual assault." Matsuda stated. "Murderers and sex-offenders seem to be his main focus."

"Then we can probably assume that the claim against the late inspector was true." L voiced. "After all, Kira has obviously been doing research on his victims-making sure they are indeed guilty of the crime of which they are convicted."

"Inspector Isobe wasn't that kind of person though-and the claim didn't get very far." Matsuda tried to defend him. L didn't have time for this. People hid their true nature all the time-it was childish to think otherwise.

oooOOOooo

The cameras were annoying to work around but Light somehow managed the first night just fine. Although, he'd only killed a small time thief and purse snatcher which were hardly his usually his M.O. No matter, a crime was a crime and his new world didn't have any place for criminals.

Tonight, he'd give L a real treat to prove his innocence by taking Aoko back to his house so they could both study. Their was a Kid heist scheduled for tonight so it was easy to get her to agree. He unlocked the front door with his key and pulled the door open for, being sure to gently touch her back as he gestured her inside.

"Are you sure it's okay that we're here alone?" She asked, glancing around the room. What did she think he was going to try something? No. He had his plans for her all mapped out-from the moment of her first kiss to her first time. He'd take it nice and slow-if he moved too fast she'd get uncomfortable as she'd only just started letting him hold her close or put his arm around her shoulder. It seemed she was warming to the idea of dating him.

"It's fine." He assured her with a smile. "We're just going to be studying." He shut and locked the door behind him. "Go upstairs to my room, I'll bring up some tea."

"Inviting her into your bedroom already? I thought you wanted to take it slow." Ryuk was teasing again. "It seems a little inappropriate." He had to wonder if Ryuk secretly liked them as a couple but otherwise ignored his commentary. The tea made, he ventured up to his room and set the tray on the table before handing Aoko her cup. She'd set her bag down, sat on his bed and got out her phone-probably to check the progress of the Kid heist.

"Thank you." She told him as she took the teacup. "Sorry to impose."

"I have to study for my entrance exams for a bit, so I'm afraid I won't be good company." He told her. She just smiled that warm encouraging smile of hers and nodded.

"I have homework anyways." She leaned over to pull her math book out along with the thick packet. From what Light could see from his chair it looked to be filled with quadratic equations. She'd probably be busy for awhile. He turned his attention to his own studies, leaving her to work on her math packet.

"I'm done!" Aoko said cheerily, after only about five minutes. Light turned to look at her, she was holding the packet up in triumph.

"Done?" He blinked, honestly surprised. "How can you be done? That's a pretty thick packet."

"Aoko's good at math." She stated, almost pouting at his disbelief. Good at math was one thing but this-

"Very. Good at math." There was no way she was done. He took the packet from her and flipped through it, each question had been answered and they looked correct based on what he could see. Either she was just really good at guessing or she was some sort of mathematical genius. "How-" He swallowed, trying not to sound inelegant. "How can you solve such complex problems so quickly?"

"Well…" She started, her cheeks going red. "The teacher will still call on me and Kaito even if I'm chasing him. So… I had to learn how to quickly solve the problems she put on the board." Light really wasn't sure what to say to that, it seemed their childish antics had somehow done them both some good.

"Well, you did say you were tied for top of your class." He stated, handing her the packet back. Just how smart was she? He supposed it didn't really matter, as long as she trusted him she wouldn't suspect a thing. Admittedly, seeing that she'd effectively solved all those problems-knowing she was that smart… He swallowed. It was a dangerous thought but... genius was a very attractive trait.


	21. Pandora's Box

The next few days passed by at an agonizingly slow rate. It was like he was waiting on something to happen but he didn't know what it was. He'd tried to investigate Isobe but found his computer and any other electronics had been wiped clean of information-courtesy of the Night Baron Virus, no doubt. The Organisation got there first. Maybe that would be the worst of it. He was being optimistic but he had to be in order keep sane. Nothing had happened yet. The Organisation didn't know who Kira was so they couldn't retaliate. Yet.

"Kudou-kun." The voice of Haibara Ai snapped him out of his revere. "You've had that expression on your face for sometime now. There's something you're not telling me." She stated. He swallowed, trying to think of an excuse. How could she tell? He stammered incoherently at first but then put a hand on her shoulder, gathering his nerve.

"It's nothing for you to worry about." He assured her. She wasn't impressed and only fixed him with an icy glare. She knew him too well. "Promise?" He tried, getting nowhere. "...Did we already leave the kids at the crosswalk?"

"Yes." She answered curtly. "Does this have to do with Them?" Shinichi sucked in a breath and debated lying but the look on her face told him she already knew the answer and he just let out a sigh, letting his hand drop from her shoulder.

"Yes." He finally confessed. "It's nothing I've done-It's Kira. He killed one of their contacts within the police-a pretty important one." Haibara stared at him for a good long moment, did she not believe him?

"And now you're worried they're going to retaliate." Haibara mused. He nodded. There was also the added fact they wanted Kira's weapon and had already infiltrated the task force. One thing at a time. "Depending on how useful he was to the organisation it wouldn't be unheard of for them to want to send a message but since no one knows who Kira is, that's a bit difficult, even for them."

"So you don't think they'll do anything?" Shinichi asked hopefully as Haibara thought about it.

"No, now more than ever they'll probably want to keep to the shadows." She decided. If they could, technically Kira had just blown a massive hole in their cover-like ants whose mound had been disturbed and they all crawled out at once.

"...Say, Haibara." She looked up at him. "Did you ever meet with someone with the code name Absinthe?" She considered his question.

"No, I don't think so. I didn't meet everyone while I was working for them." He didn't really think he'd get that lucky with how things had gone so far but he still couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. "Perhaps you should come with me to the professor's." He could tell by her tone she wasn't really giving him a choice.

"Fine." He sighed in defeat. "But first let me drop my stuff off at the agency." They rounded the corner and Mouri Detective Agency was already in view. Haibara followed after him as he moved towards the building. He headed up the steps like he usually did and went straight for the office. "I'm home!"

"Conan-kun! Welcome back." Ran greeted him as he came in the door. She was holding a serving tray and wearing an apron which could only mean-he glanced over at the two couches. Yes. They had a client-a very peculiar client at that. He appeared to be very unkempt from what Shinichi could tell just by his current vantage point.

"Ran-neechan, we have a client?" Ran moved over to the door to take his coat and backpack.

"Actually, Conan-kun-He says he's one of your cousins." Ran stated, not realising the weight of the words she'd just dropped on him. "Oh, Ai-chan, I didn't see you at first. May I take your things?"

What did she mean? Conan didn't have any cousins because Edogawa Conan didn't exist. He glanced at Haibara who shook her head at him. The curiosity was too great-he needed to know. He moved over to the two couches to get a look at his 'cousin.' The man was deathly pale with dark circles under his eyes that would put Akai Shuichi's to shame.

"Aa! Conan-kun!" The man greeted, doing his best to sound friendly. Shinichi looked back at Haibara again to see if she could feel anything from him but she shook her head.

"Hello…" He said suspiciously. Why had Ran let this person in the house?

"Glad to see you're home from school." He continued with the charade. Shinichi could fee his heart beating faster-he couldn't give anything way-Ran couldn't know that this was a complete stranger to him.

"A-Aa…" He made no move to get any closer to the man than he already was.

"Since I'm in town I thought I'd treat you to dinner and catch up-you have grown quite a bit since you were an infant." Liar. Shinichi's eyes narrowed. What did this man want from him. What would happen if he refused? He couldn't put Ran in that kind of danger. He shoved his anxiety down and adopted the cheerful persona of Edogawa Conan.

"Mm!" He chirped. "That sounds like fun! It'll be just the two of us, right?" _Don't you dare drag Haibara and Ran into this._

"Of course. Are you ready to go?" No. No he was not but what choice did he have? He nodded his head once with enthusiasm and the man stood up and headed for the door-he was gangly and thin to an unhealthy degree. Shinichi let out a breath and started to follow but felt a tight grip on his wrist stop him and turned to see Haibara.

"What are you doing? There's no way that man is-"

"I know." He cut her off. "But I don't have a choice. If he knows something about me, I need to know." He whispered. She released his wrist after a moment of consideration and Shinichi continued on.

"I'll see you later Ran-neechan!" He smiled up at her as she busied herself with cleaning the office.

"See you later Conan-kun. Stay out of trouble and have fun." He shut the door behind him as he exited the office. A quick glance down the stairs showed the man was waiting at the bottom for him and standing next to luxury limo. It did nothing to calm him nerves. He took in a breath and started down the steps. Who was this man? What did he want?

"After you, Conan-kun." He was probably offering for him to climb in first so he knew he wouldn't try and make a break for it. He took in another breath to calm his nerves and climbed into the limo as he'd been instructed to. Once the door was shut Shinichi fixed the man with a glare.

"What do you want?" He demanded. "We both know you're not my cousin."

"Quite." His demeanor seemed to change altogether as he settled himself into the seat across from him, sitting in the same peculiar way he had been sitting in the agency. "Merely another chance to talk to you." Shinichi's eyes narrowed at the word 'another.'

"I've never met you before in my life." He said sternly. The man didn't seem at all phased by the harsh tone.

"You have. Although it wasn't in person." The man said calmly, watching him. Not in person? But the only person he'd met recently that wasn't face to face was-Oh. The realization must have shown on his face because the man spoke again. "I think, at this point you have realised who I am."

"L." Shinichi answered. The man-L gave a nodd. "But I thought you didn't show your face to anyone." He prompted.

"Yes, that is generally the case. However in this situation I have been forced to do a number to things I would not normally." L explained. "I have had to show my face to the Kira task force-something I did not want to do, but sacrifices must be made if I am to catch Kira."

"Well then, I wish you luck on the case." He started to pull the door open but found it stayed stubbornly closed. Shinichi sighed. Child lock.

"It is unwise to open the door of a moving vehicle." L advised. Recognising that he was stuck Shinichi turned back to face him.

"What do you want?" He demanded, not at all happy about being trapped.

"I want the truth."

"I already told you, I don't know anything." He stated firmly. L stared at him, thumb pressed against his lip.

"Yes, and you lied." He said bluntly, catching the small detective off guard. "Why are you trying to protect Kira? From what I've seen and heard of you, his methods are something you would be entirely against." That was certainly true, but he'd have to put up with it for now because as bad as Yagami was with that weapon the organisation with that power would be even worse.

"I said I don't know anything." He repeated the statement, not actually expecting it to do much.

"You are afraid of something." L deduced. "It isn't Kira himself as you are no doubt aware that any information coming from you will remain anonymous. So what is it that you are not telling me?" He stared.

For a moment, he wondered if he should just tell L about the organisation, about the fact that someone on the task force was a member just waiting to steal Kira's weapon once it was discovered. However, if he did he couldn't be sure the organisation wouldn't find out that L was aware of them and if that were to happen-He swallowed.

"There's nothing." He said stubbornly. L sighed.

"Then I will keep you until you are ready to speak the truth." Oh great. He just got himself kidnapped by L.

oooOOOooo

The explosion that ripped through the Haido City district came without warning, it was big enough that it shook the foundation of much of the district. The damage was massive, debris had flown in every direction creating more damage to the surrounding buildings. There was nothing left of the targeted building-it had been packed with enough explosives to completely level it.

Haido Hotel shook at the time of the explosion and nearly sent Shinichi to the floor. He rushed over to the large window and could see the huge smokestack reaching into the sky. He pressed his face against the glass as he tried to remember what that building was.

"Oh god." It hit him suddenly and he staggered backwards.

"Hm?" L looked down at him.

"The hospital." Shinichi's voice was weak as he stared numbly in the area that the Haido city Hospital _used_ to stand. That whole section of the town had to be completely obliterated. He felt vaguely nauseous. All those people-dead.

This was the message. The weak and innocent-the people that needed to be protected. What had Yagami done? In killing their cover he'd unknowingly just sparked a war. He ignored whatever it was that L was saying to him and pulled out his phone, quickly calling Haibara. He didn't give her any time to speak once she answered.

"Haibara! It's open."


	22. Extortion

"Haibara! It's open." Kudou's voice came through clearly and then suddenly cut off. For a moment she didn't understand what he meant, but the conversation she'd had with him earlier indicated it had something to do with Them. 'It's open.' He couldn't mean-

"-We interrupt this program with to inform you a terrible explosion has -" Ai swallowed, slowly turning towards the TV the professor was watching. An explosion. Someone had bombed the Haido City Hospital. That's what he'd meant-they were retaliating against Kira just as Kudou had feared they would do.

Kira pulled the lid off of Pandora's box. The damage to come could only get worse. They would have to do something before more places were bombed. She needed to find Kira and she had the sneaking suspicion that Kudou knew exactly where to find him.

"Who would do such a thing?" She heard Agasa react to the news update. Would Kudou have told Agasa? He usually did tell him things like this but he'd been especially secretive the past month she couldn't be sure. Since the Kira case hadn't had anything to do with Them until just now she had a good idea of who he had told. She hunted through her list of contacts until she found the one she needed.

"Yo! Hattori speakin'" The detective of the west answer cheerily. The news must not have made it to Osaka just yet.

"Hattori-kun." She spoke quickly. "I need to know if Kudou-kun has talked to you about the Kira case." Heiji was silent a long moment as he processed who was calling him and the question being asked.

"Er...Kinda? Why? Did somethin' happen t' Kudou?" He asked hurriedly. It was a fair question considering she was calling him and not Kudou himself.

"He's fine. I need to know what he's told you." She said sternly. She could hear Hattori let out a breath as he was trying to decide whether or not tell her. Maybe be needed a little more incentive. "Kudou-kun told me earlier today that Kira killed one of the organisation's police contacts. He was worried they'd retaliate. They did. There's nothing but a smoldering crater where Haido City's hospital used to stand." She let that sink in.

"Fuck! Are you serious?" Hattori demanded, she moved the phone away from her ear just a smidge.

"I need to know what he told you." She pressed. She could hear something in the background, presumably he was moving. There was a noise like he'd shut a door and he returned to the phone.

"Alright, but ya gotta understand he's under a lot of pressure." Hattori finally caved. "Kudou asked me ta come down right around new year's because he wanted ta know what I thought about a moral dilemma he was facin'."

"Please, Continue."

"Th' thing is, the Organisation wants Kira's weapon and they're pretty desperate ta get it. Kudou said that they already had someone sittin' in on th' Kira Taskforce." Haibara's breath caught-it wasn't surprising but it meant that if Kudou had found Kira he wouldn't be able to turn him in due to the concern he'd be handing him right over to the organisation. No wonder he'd been more pensive than normal lately.

"So Kudou-kun doesn't want to give the information to L." She reasoned.

"Yeah, and ta make matters worse one of their members-Vermouth I think it was-" Haibara's grip on the phone tightened. "-Came ta him and wanted him ta' find Kira for her. She gave him until May." And he didn't think that concerned her?

"And? Did he find Kira?" She prompted.

"Y-yeah. He seemed ta think so-said it couldn't be anyone else-didn' tell me who it was though." Hattori stated. Ai suppressed a sigh at the mostly unhelpful information. Why did Kudou have to withhold information like this? He seemed to think if he carried all the weight on his shoulders no one else would get hurt. That childish way of thinking was going to get him killed-get them all killed.

oooOOOooo

Shinichi hung the phone up and glanced towards the door. He couldn't be here. He needed to talk to several different people-the highest on the list was Kira himself. He couldn't though-he'd lead L right to Kira and he couldn't. He'd have to do it some other way.

Luckily, L was distracted enough by the massive explosion that he was at least able sneak away and crawl under the bed. He immediately set to work on typing out an extremely long text message detailing his deductions and how to proceed from there. The organisation had to be dealt with. It was apparent now that Kira was the much lesser of the two evils. This couldn't happen again.

"Conan-kun?" He heard L. He needed to finish the text message before he got caught or L would read it. Just a little more. "It's useless to hide. You will not be able to leave-but I will not treat you poorly."

Holding him against his will was treating him poorly but it wasn't like that mattered. Just a few more things to add.

"I'm not much in the mood for hide-and-seek. I need to know what it is you are keeping from me." L's voice sounded like it was getting closer. Being a world renowned detective, it probably wouldn't take much of a deduction to realise that Conan was hiding under the bed. Almost.

He heard the door creak-L was in the room-he could see the pale feet. Was he going to be able to finish this? Just one more part and-send! He swallowed and let out a breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding. It was probably loud enough to give away his location. He quickly deleted the thread just before L pulled the bed skirt up.

"I really am not going to hurt you, you know."

oooOOOooo

The text message came through to Ai's phone in several successive messages. She quickly gathered up her phone and read the instructions that he'd sent through to her. The content was shocking and if Kudou were asking her to do this then the situation must have been bad. He had better be right about this.

' _Find Kira. Tell him about the organisation._ ' Was the first part of a very long and detailed list of deductions and instructions. He provided her with everything she needed though so she let out a sigh gathered her coat up to head out to the address he'd provided. Things were bad and Kudou must have realised they were only going to get worse.

Ai pressed the doorbell to the Yagami residence insistently until finally a middle-aged woman answered, looking surprised to see a small child. Kudou was going to owe her for months for this.

"Is Light-niisan home? I'm supposed to give him a message from Edogawa-kun." She offered innocently, putting on her best little kid face. The woman seemed surprised by the request but turned to face inside just as her son was crossing to head up to his room- _Kira!_

"Who's at the door?" She heard him ask.

"A little girl-she says she wants to speak with you." His mother told him.

"With me?" He tilted his head slightly to see around her. The look on his face said he must have recognised her. Maybe that would make this easy. "It's a bit cold to leave her out like that-I'll see what she wants."

His mother nodded and invited her inside.

"You're one of Conan-kun's friends aren't you?" Light asked her. She nodded.

"Haibara Ai. It's a pleasure to meet you." She smiled.

"The pleasure is mine." At least he was polite. "Why don't you come up to my room and we can talk there?" He gestured with his hand. She nodded shyly and then headed up the stairs, stopping to wait for him to open the door.

He came up the steps, opened the door and let her go in before him. The moment he had the door closed she sighed, dropping all pretenses that she was a child and turned to face him.

"I already know that you're Kira." She stated bluntly.

oooOOOooo

Light's breath caught as he stared at the small girl in his room that had just accused him of being Kira. How could she know? Thankfully, all the wiretaps and cameras had been removed two days ago or this would have been a lot worse.

"Kira? Why do you say that?" He asked, trying to sound more amused than angry. The little girl-Ai just sighed and fished her phone out of her pocket.

"Looks like she got you." Ryuk was chortling at this turn of events.

"Shall I go over it in order?" She swiped up on the screen and began to read. "On December 19th you got the bus to go to Tropical Land with your date but the bus was hijacked by failed bank robber. During that time you coaxed the FBI agent, Raye Penbar, into showing you his badge." How did she know that? "A week later Penbar and the other eleven FBI agents working the Kira case were murdered by Kira. The FBI didn't publicly announce their involvement with the Kira case until after the death of their agents so, the only way Kira could have known was if he'd seen a badge."

Light took a few breaths, should he let her go on? Just how much did she know and what was she reading from? He shot a glare at the laughing Shinigami.

"Raye Penbar's fiance stated that he'd told her he had to show his badge to someone that day of bus jacking. The only people he could have shown that badge to were Nakamori Aoko and you, Yagami Light."

"It's probably just a coincidence-I admit I did see his badge but-" Ai held a hand up, scrolling through a message of some kind before she continued to read. He moved towards his desk.

"Osoreda-san wasn't high or hallucinating at the time he took over the bus. In fact, he didn't start hallucinating until after he'd picked up a piece of paper _you_ dropped. From this it's easy to infer that you, Yagami Light are Kira."

"Oooh, she has you." Ryuk was saying.

That information in the wrong hands would be enough for an arrest at least. He had to get rid of this girl-and find out where she'd gotten the information from though he had a feeling he knew. This stupid girl had just walked right into the jaws of death. He pulled his drawer open, grabbed a pen and pulled the inkwell out.

"You are exactly right, Ai-chan. Would you like to see how I do it?" He pushed the inkwell up into the hole on the bottom of the drawer so the false bottom popped up. She seemed to still be reading that message. He'd deal with that later.

"If you'd like." She said calmly, not at all phased. Had she not realised what he was about to do? He pulled the Death Note out of the drawer and opened it up to a blank page.

' _Haibara Ai, traffic accident. Suddenly leaves the residence, leaving her phone and wanders into oncoming traffic.'_

Once he'd finished writing he held the book up for her to see. She glanced at her name and yawned.

"You wrote my name wrong-It's sorrow not love." She explained. Ryuk seemed to find it hilarious. Why was she giving him her name when she knew he needed a name and face in order to kill her?

"It's not your real name, is it?" He asked, just barely keeping his temper under control. He'd never be able to get her to give him her real name now.

"No." She said simply. "Now, you're going to listen, because what I have to tell you is very important."


	23. Blurred Out

Ai could tell he was rattled-Kudou had said he had a bit of a temper problem and to tread carefully while at the same time giving him no room to talk his way out of the deduction. She could see the wheels turning in his head as he tried to work out what he should do with her since couldn't kill her without her real name.

She watched as he looked in the direction of the corner of the room and took a breath, trying to keep himself calm. He couldn't touch her and they both knew it-it was part of the reason Kudou told her to go directly to his house. He took in another breath and sat down in his chair, crossing his arms.

"What do you want?" He asked. She offered him a small smirk, his eyes narrowed.

"We need your help." She stated simply, watching as the statement slowly registered. He took another breath still trying to keep calm.

"We?" He raised an eyebrow. "Conan." He realised after a moment of thought. "I presume that isn't his real name either?" She just shook her head once-that was all the confirmation he was getting. "And what is it you need my help with?"

His temper was so close to the surface, he was starting to realise he didn't have a choice but to help them. She glanced around the room briefly before grabbing the remote to his television and turned it on.

"-Still no word on the parties responsible for the devastating damage done to the Haido City-" Kira's eyes snapped to the news report-they widened at the image on screen. It seemed Kudou really was right about the fact he didn't want innocent people to get hurt. She set the remote down, she needed the news story in the background to help convince him to hear her out.

"On January sixth you killed the head of arson and bomb disposal unit- Isobe Yusei." She told him. He kept his eyes on the screen and she continued. "What you didn't know, was that Inspector Isobe had been taking bribes under the table from a very dangerous criminal organisation to rule certain cases in certain ways-or at least, Edogawa-kun seems to think that was his purpose."

"And?" Kira prompted. He obviously didn't get it. She sighed and gestured to the television screen.

"You killed their cover. They're not happy with you." She said flatly. Kira's eyes darted back to that same corner and then back to her.

"-That was them?" He finally asked. She nodded.

"It seems so, Edogawa-kun said they attacked the hospital because it represented the weak, injured and innocent-people that Kira wishes to protect." He seemed to relax just slightly as he processed the conversation.

"And what do you want me to do?" He finally asked.

"Isn't that obvious? Help us take it down." She shrugged. "Edogawa-kun and I have been hiding from them for sometime-I have repeatedly warned him about the dangers of what were to happen if They were forced to reveal themselves. I even referred to it as opening Pandora's box." She gestured at the tv screen. "And you just opened it."

Kira sat back in his chair a bit as he considered her words, glancing at the screen again. She wondered if he felt at all responsible for what had just happened. Kudou had informed her in the text message that Yagami Light, deep down, had a genuine desire to do good and had somehow just gotten lost along the way. They would have to appeal to that part of him if they wanted to convince him to help. If that didn't work there was always blackmail.

"If I agree to help you, You and Conan will keep L from figuring out that I'm Kira?" He asked.

"Yes." She said flatly. "Though not because he wants to-the problem he faces is that They already have a member within the Kira Task Force-turning you in would be the same as handing you over to Them and They're very interested in your weapon." She let that sink in. His eyes shot to the notebook he'd written about Ai Haibara's death in. How-? She cleared her throat.

"If that were to fall into their hands..." She didn't finish the thought, he was smart enough to figure it out on his own.

"That won't happen." He assured her. "How big is this organisation?"

"Global." She watched as he nearly choked at that revelation.

"Global?"

"They've been living in the shadows for the past fifty years-they've had plenty of time to grow." She shrugged.

"You certainly seem to know a lot about this organisation." He caught on. She sighed-of course she'd have to go over this. Well, it wasn't like it'd be giving him her name.

"That is because I used to be a member of that organisation." She confessed. "Edogawa-kun has been protecting me from them ever since I betrayed them."

"Betrayed them?"

"...They killed my sister." She thought briefly of Akemi and the very last time she'd seen her. It helped to strengthen her resolve. " And then refused to tell me why." They had had a chance to destroy the organisation for good. Kira had a very permanent solution to their problem-"Edogawa-kun didn't want to do it this way but he's too soft hearted. If he had his way no one else would have to die."

"You were part of this?" She could hear the dangerous tone in his voice and raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, as part of the research and drug development division." That certainly got a reaction. She could see him trying to work out that bit of information. Any minute now…

"How old are you?" he finally realised. Ai shrugged.

"Wouldn't you like to know." He gritted his teeth and shot a glare at that corner of his room again.

"Explain what?" He demanded. Who was he talking to? She glanced in that direction as well. "What?" She looked back at him-was he okay? He sighed and picked up the notebook before holding it out to her. "Just touch it." He told her, irritation clear in his voice.

She raised an eyebrow and very hesitantly reached forward to touch the notebook. She was going to regret this.

"Haibara-san, meet Ryuk-he is a shinigami." He set the notebook back down on his desk. Ai looked at him curiously before turning around-coming face to face with-well the shinigami. His face was pale-he was mostly in black and looked like this clothes? If that's what they were, were sewn into his skin. His yellow eyes were staring at her and Ai had to swallow her fear. Kudou did not prepare her for this-of course Kudou would have never expected this.

"Nice to meet you." the Shinigami-Ryuk stated. Ai swallowed again, trying not show her fear.

"Th-the pleasure is mine." She offered with a slight bow of her head.

"Ryuk, as a shinigami has the ability to see the names and lifespans of humans." Kira explained. Did that mean- "However, he's only just informed me that he can't see your name, and he probably can't see Conan's either." Ryuk shook his head.

"That's good news for Edogawa-kun and I." She stated, regaining some of her nerve at this helpful bit of information. They really did have Kira where they wanted him. But why couldn't the shinigami see her real name-was that because of the apotoxin?

"It just looks like your name has been blurred out." Ryuk supplied. "Not that I would tell him what it was anyway. It ruin the fun." He laughed.

Kira let out a sigh and put his notebook back in the hidden part of his drawer.

"Okay," He caved. "I will help you and Conan on the condition you explain why it is that Ryuk-A shinigami-can't see your name." She sighed-of course he'd want to know about that.

"The only thing I can think of is that it's because Edogawa-kun and I have gone against nature and reverted back in time." She stated thoughtfully. Kira quietly waited for her to continue. "When I was in the organisation, I was in charge in of a very specific project-but it went wrong in testing and only worked as a deadly poison. Well, in most cases."

"Continue."

"Edogawa-kun was the first human test subject to be administered the drug. It was meant to kill him to keep him quiet but instead he shrank."

"Shrank." Kira repeated the word. "So this isn't your real face?"

"Yes..." Ai stated, thinking about it a bit more. "It is our real face-but you could say that it's the wrong face." Kira sighed again and rubbed at his temples.

"That would explain it." Ryuk nodded.

"Tell me more about this organisation." Kira requested.

"They're very dangerous-They tend to dress in black and use code names based on the names of alcohol. Edogawa-kun hasn't told me specifically, but I believe the code name of the organisation member within the task force is Absinthe. He asked me about it earlier today." Kira closed his eyes, processing the information carefully.

"And why did Conan send you? I'm sure he's perfectly capable of telling me all this himself." Ai looked down at the text message again and quietly deleted the thread.

"He's... unavailable at the moment." She explained. Kudou hadn't exactly explained where he was-just that he couldn't make the deduction himself. Kira seemed to be thinking about it. At last, he just sighed in defeat.

"If you can bring me the names and faces of these organisation members then I can take care of it from there." He finally stated. "In return, you and Conan steer L's suspicions in a different direction-it seems he already suspects me."

This was not exactly what Kudou wanted, she was sure but if they were going to Kira then he had to have expected this arrangement.

"Deal."

"I had better not regret having you two as allies." The threat was clear in his voice. Ai just smirked at him again.

"Aa, but Kira-san, what do you plan to do without our real names?"

oooOOOooo

If anyone had ever told Shinichi that there would come a time in which he had to escape the near legendary detective L to protect a mass murderer he would have thought they were insane. However, it seemed L had been serious when he said he was going to detain him until he provided the information that he knew about the case-which was pretty much everything aside from a few details-such as what Kira's weapon even was but if Haibara had done her job then Yagami would have revealed it to her.

Unfortunately for L, he was under the impression that Edogawa Conan-while being exceptionally bright and resourceful-was just a child. Which meant that he wasn't aware of gadgets created by Professor Agasa which also meant didn't expect it when Shinichi used the needle in the wristwatch to knock him out. It wouldn't last long-though due to L's rough size and weight it'd probably last a little longer than it did on Kogoro.

Now, time to escape.

He pulled the hotel door open and came face to face with an elderly gentlemen in a suit. He stood frozen for a moment-unsure if he should or even could make a run for it.

The man stared down at him-just as shocked to see 'Conan' as Shinichi was to see him. When it registered he was trying to escape the man moved to grab him but Shinichi rolled out of the way and took off for the stairs. He wasn't stupid enough to trap himself in an elevator.

It was going to be impossible to just walk out the front door so he needed another escape route. For now, he'd have content himself with hiding on one the various floors. He couldn't hide in any of the rooms since he didn't have a key but there were other places he could hide that would make the task of searching for him on all seventy-two floors very difficult.

He made it down to the sixty-fifth floor before he had to stop to rest. Wait-wasn't this was the same hotel Sera was staying in? She'd probably agree to hide him. He took a few breaths and tried to remember what floor she was on before making his way her direction.


	24. Optimistic

Masumi Sera was in the middle of lying in her hotel bed, in her underwear, flipping through channels when the explosion happened. It shook the whole building and she quickly got to her feet-that wasn't an earthquake-and went to the window. She could see the smoke rising up from the smoldering mess that had once been a hospital-her grip tightened on the curtain.

"The damage is done. There's nothing we can do now." The cool tones of the extra occupant in the room said from behind her. Sera sighed-she could hear sirens off in the distance and see the devastating damage below. She wanted to help-her mother was probably right though-there was no need for a detective-not yet. She moved back to the bed she'd been lounging on and flipped to the news-it wasn't hard to find the coverage as it was suddenly on every channel. According to the news reports no one knew what had happened or what had caused the explosion-there would be an ongoing investigation and their thoughts went out to the families of the victims.

The media would probably try and play it off like a gas leak, but a gas leak wouldn't cause an explosion like that. She looked back towards the window and then back at her mom who just shrugged.

"I'm going to take a shower." She stated, leaving Sera to watch the news. She spent a good ten minutes just watching the live coverage before she heard the insistent knocking on her door. Mary was still in the shower and wouldn't answer the door anyway given her condition. With a groan she got up to see who it was-she couldn't see anyone through the peephole so did that mean-?

"Conan-kun?" She pulled the door opened, it looked like he'd just been running. "Are you okay?"

"Aa. But-Sera-neechan, can I stay in here for a bit?" He asked, eyes bright and innocent. It would have had a bigger effect on her if she didn't already know that Conan was actually the missing detective and her long lost friend, Kudou Shinichi. Sera glanced back toward the restroom-her mother probably would have said no but-She glanced down the hallway to see if she could see anything that might have given Conan cause to come here but it was empty.

"Um.. yes, come on in." She stepped back into the hotel room to allow him access and he didn't waste time hanging out in the hall. Should she ask? It was a little disconcerting if he was running from something. She let the door shut behind her and moved back over to her hotel bed. "Were you running from someone?"

"...Um. Yeah, I guess." He answered. "It's been a weird day." Sera glanced back towards the window. Weird was a word for it.

"Do you want me to beat them up for you?" She offered, trying to keep the mood light. He just sighed and shook his head. Apparently he wasn't in the mood-not that he ever was.

"Listen-I have to-" He cut off abruptly as it registered she was in her underwear. His face flushed bright red and he looked away. "Um! I have to leave this hotel but I don't think I'll be able to just walk out the door." His voice had suddenly gone up in pitch. For his sake, she pulled on a pair of jeans and a loose t-shirt. Once dressed, Sera sat back down on the bed with her arms crossed. What exactly had he gotten himself into this time?

"What happened?" She chanced asking. Having caught his breath, he moved over to the window and stared down at the carnage below. She could tell by how stiff and tense he was that he was deeply upset by this-but of course he would be. This was the kid that refused to let anyone die.

"Sera-neechan... did you know that L was using this hotel?"

"Eh? Really?" No, she was not aware of that-what a cool coincidence. Although... how did Conan know that? "Have you met him?"

"Yes." He answered flatly. "He seemed to think I know something about the Kira case and wouldn't let me go until I told." L had gone to Conan? It wasn't that surprising considering his reputation, but still that had to a be a pretty great honor.

She couldn't help but notice he didn't seem honored at all-just tired.

"Do you know something about the Kira case?" She prompted. Conan sighed and moved back to the center of the room.

"Yes." He confessed. "But I can't tell him what I know-at least not yet." Sera considered the statement-she would have thought that Conan would turn Kira over to the police the moment he had the evidence to do so. There had to be something more at work here and she did trust him-the way he did things-

'Shinichi won't allow anyone to die, he absolutely wouldn't!'

She could hear Ran's voice ringing in her head from that one time and smiled softly. His way was probably much more gentle than L's.

"So you're hiding from L?" Sera realised. Conan just looked down at the ground.

"A-Aa..."

"Do you need me to smuggle you out?" Sera offered. Conan froze and looked up at her to consider the offer.

"That depends on how you intend to do that." He said suspiciously.

"I think you'd fit in my suitcase." She grinned at him. She could tell by the look on his face and the way he leaned slightly away that he didn't like the idea of that.

"...Is that really the best option?" He asked. Sera thought about it-she supposed she could dye his hair so he wouldn't look like Conan anymore but she already knew he wouldn't go for that-plus the bathroom was occupied.

"Sorry, you're a little too big to fit in my shirt." She grinned again.

"First time I've been too big for anything in awhile." He sighed in defeat. "Fine, suitcase it is."

oooOOOooo

Light couldn't remember a time where he felt more defeated than he did in this moment. This little girl-who wasn't actually a little girl-had just come into this room and backed him up against the wall with deductions that he was sure came from Conan-deductions that he couldn't deny and could make his life very difficult. The worst part was that he couldn't do anything to either of them because he didn't have their real names, and even if he did he didn't have the right face.

Conan was the master manipulator after all. He'd just brought Kira to his knees and strong-armed him into helping with this organisation. At least they'd promised to keep L from figuring out he was Kira. How long that would last, he didn't know. Hopefully by the time they were ready to turn him in he would have already learned their real identities.

She hadn't left yet-He didn't know what she was waiting for but she was just standing in the middle of the room with her arms crossed looking at him disapprovingly-could she tell he was scheming?

"You're completely transparent." Ai told him. Apparently she could. Ryuk laughed and he shot the Shinigami a glare. He'd say something to her but she didn't seem to be phased by him now that she knew he couldn't hurt her. He wondered if he could ask her to leave-but there was probably a reason she was still there. Besides, if he did ask she probably wouldn't and he wasn't in a position where he could force her. Conan had made sure of that.

He almost jumped when her phone started to ring, although it didn't really sound anything like a ringtone. It sounded like that Osakan detective was shouting at someone.

"Whatcha doin' ta my Kazuha?!"

She looked at the caller ID and immediately answered.

"You took long enough." She was saying. That must have been Conan. "He's already agreed to help." Definitely Conan. "Fine." She pressed the button to turn on speaker.

"Yagami." Light looked up at the sound of his name. "I know you're unhappy about the arrangement but my hands are tied-and as a detective I am required to act accordingly." Unhappy was an understatement-he was furious. These two little brats had just trapped him and he'd have to do whatever they told him to.

"What do you want from me?" He chanced asking.

"For starters, I'd prefer if you didn't kill anyone else." The tone in his voice had a sharp edge to it-Light wanted to challenge him but he couldn't. He sucked in a breath and huffed-Ryuk found it amusing.

"If you don't want me to kill anyone-why come to Kira?" He demanded-after all Kira would only be good for one thing in this fight against the organisation.

"I'm not asking Kira. I'm asking Yagami Light to lend us a hand in the war Kira started." Conan said harshly. "It's the least you can do." What was this kid on about?

"You've already established Yagami Light is Kira, so then why come to me?"

"Because of your strong desire to do good." Light wasn't sure what he'd expected him to say but it certainly wasn't that. Desire to do good? Despite that he'd killed hundreds upon hundreds of people he still thought that Yagami Light wanted to do good? "It's why you started this, isn't it? You got fed up with the failing justice system-you wanted to protect the weak, the innocent, the victims, and the ones that just didn't have a voice. So you did want no one should do-you took matters into your own hands."

"...Yes." Light finally admitted after a long moment of silence. "Some people just don't deserve to be in this world. Are you going to tell me what I'm doing is evil, too?"

"You don't need me to tell you that." Conan responded gravely. "However, I also think that as long as you still want to do the world some good, then it's not too late for you change." Change? He didn't need to change-he was going to be God of the New World and this insolent little- "So I'm giving you the chance to do something good."

He took in a breath to try and control his temper. How could he have gotten trapped by this brat?

"Careful Edogawa-kun, I think you struck a nerve." Ai stated, still holding the phone up.

"Anyways, I was finally able to get away from the Haido Hotel. We should probably meet in person." Conan ignored the comment.

"Aa. Where?" Ai said lazily.

"Agasa's would probably best. I'll meet you both there in half an hour." The phone disconnected and Ai just stared at him expectantly.

"He's too optimistic." Light finally stated. Ai shrugged.

"Probably, but that's just how he is-he always believes in the best in people." She stated. "I probably wouldn't still be here if not for his childish notion that he can save everyone."

oooOOOooo

Once he was out of the hotel Shinichi didn't waste time hanging around the front and took off in the direction of the loopline-he wasn't going to get on it as he doubted very seriously that it was even operating with the current emergency-he just needed a direction to run. Once he was in the clear he leaned against a brick building and pulled out his phone to call Haibara, made plans to meet at the professor's and then called Agasa to come get him.

Finally, back on safe ground he collapsed on the couch in Agasa's living room and just took a moment to breathe and stared up at the ceiling. What was he doing? He was recruiting a mass murderer to help him take down The Black Organisation-after that was done then what? He couldn't exactly let Yagami get away with murder.

"Are you sure about this Shinichi?" Agasa asked, bringing out a glass of water over to him. Shinichi sat up on the couch to take it and took a long drink. After today, it was just what he needed.

"No." He admitted. "But what choice do I have? I can't hand Kira to L and I can't let Kira keep killing criminals." He let out a sigh and took another drink of the water. "Maybe I can convince him to destroy his weapon. Taking down the organisation is still going to take time-even with Yagami's help. There's still time to get through to him."

"That would probably destroy the only evidence though." Agasa advised. Shinichi handed him back the glass and slouched into the couch.

"Aa. which means, in all likelihood, Yagami is going to get away with it. However, I'd much rather no one else get a hold of something that can do... that, especially the Black Organisation, than put Kira in jail."

"If anyone could do it, it'd be you Shinichi." Agasa moved to refill the water glass. "But are you sure you want to go against L?" Shinichi sucked in a breath. "He'll come after you if he realises you're protecting Kira."

"Yes." He finally admitted. "L used a criminal to bait Kira into killing him-even if the victim was on death row-it wasn't right and that makes him no better than a murderer himself. It also tells me that L is more focused on catching Kira then he is on protecting the general population-It seems backwards but Yagami does want to protect people-he's just going about it the wrong way. L is more interested in the chase."

The back door opened and Shinichi sat up again as Haibara and Yagami came into the living room. Shinichi watched as Yagami's eyes snapped to Agasa-he was clearly uncomfortable with this.

"Agasa has been mine and Haibara's ally and confidant since the beginning-you couldn't ask for a better ally." Shinichi stated.

"O-Oh, well I wouldn't-" Agasa blushed slightly at the compliment and then busied himself with making tea. Yagami looked like he wanted to say something but ultimately just sighed and took a seat across from Shinichi.

"So. This Organisation. Haibara-san's already filled me in a little-but she seems to think you know more than you've told her." Yagami stated. Shinichi looked over at Haibara but she just yawned-well, she wasn't wrong.

"I can catch you up to where I am in the investigation but it's going to take all night." He heard Agasa dump the tea kettle and start going through the steps of preparing coffee instead. Yagami sighed.

"As it turns out, I have the time."


	25. Crash

Light took in a deep breath to remain calm. It had been some time since Conan had finished filling him in on what he knew of this 'Black Organisation' as he had called it. He was slowly starting to realise he had no idea what he was getting himself into, as well as the full extent of the power the person going by the name Edogawa Conan truly had over him now. He'd all but told Light not to kill anyone else but that was a tall order. The world was still rotten and he still had work to do. For some reason this idealistic child thought he could change-that he needed to change.

Conan had been pulling the strings all along-manipulating everyone-he investigated thoroughly and worked out the truth without Light suspecting a thing until it was too late. Was this kid a better detective than L? What did he think he could gain from recruiting Kira to help take down this organisation? No, a little voice in his head insisted, it wasn't Kira he wanted to recruit, but Yagami Light. Whatever that meant.

He supposed that Conan figuring out the truth was better than L figuring it out. According to Ai, Conan had a hero complex a mile wide and would do everything in his power to keep anyone from dying. He had to realise that Light would be facing the death penalty if he was revealed to be Kira. What did he intend to do about that?

He stirred the coffee that Professor Agasa had handed to him and watched the small boy press his hands together as if in prayer, sitting with his knees up and his eyes closed.

"What is he doing?" He asked. Ai looked up from the magazine she was reading and glanced Conan's way before shrugging.

"Sitting like Sherlock Holmes." She offered simply. "He does that when he's facing a particularly perplexing problem."

"...Does it help?"

"More than you would think."

"I can still hear, you know." Conan peeked and annoyed eye open at Ai. She yawned and returned to her magazine. He took in a breath and resumed his thinking position. What was it that he still found perplexing? He'd worked out who Kira was and then found a way to force him into joining his cause. Who was this kid? Some kind of reincarnation of Sherlock Holmes?

"I need to know everything that L does." He finally stated, looking up from his 'Sherlock Holmes' position. "If I'm to direct his attention away from you then I need to know why he started to suspect you in the first place."

"I'm not part of the investigation team." Light pointed out. "However, I can tell you that it's already reached a point where he had my house wired with cameras." Conan made a face at the blatant disregard for privacy.

"And? I assume that you didn't start talking about being Kira in your room at that time. When did you notice the cameras?"

"On the eighth. They were removed two days ago." Light supplied.

Conan paused, thinking something over. "Was that why you killed a purse snatcher and small time thief?" He certainly worked that out fast.

"Yes. I needed to divert L's suspicions by making making him see that Kira was still active even though Yagami Light didn't watch the news all day." Conan just stared at him blankly.

"And that was the first day?" He pressed.

"Yes. I wanted to clear my name quickly." Light stated. Conan let out an exasperated sigh, hanging his head as he did. He took in a deep breath and then looked back up.

"You don't know how this works, do you?" He asked. When Light didn't respond, he continued. "The one that appears perfect is always the most suspicious." He stated. "In trying to clear your name on the first day you actually made yourself stand out more. It's no wonder if L locked onto you."

Ryuk couldn't stop himself from laughing and Light was left to think about what he'd just said.

"Considering the source-I'd say he's probably right." Ryuk chortled.

"So you think that if I had waited a couple of days before I went a full day without watching the news I would have diverted his attention?"

"Yes!" Conan responded. "You 'cleared' your name on the first day and then Kira went against his usual M.O. and killed a purse snatcher and a thief-the two criminals that made it onto a news report the first day he'd installed the cameras. To him, that was like showing off. Hell, I would have found it suspicious." Ryuk was still laughing at how badly it seemed Light had messed that up.

"He has a point." He offered, unhelpfully.

"So, you're the mastermind now, how do you intend to trick him?" Light challenged, eyes narrowing darkly. Conan just sighed, hanging his head again.

"I'll do everything I can to make it seem like you can't possibly be Kira, but you're going to have to work with me." He insisted, head still pointed downwards.

"And how do you propose I do that?" Light crossed his arms, watching the other from across the coffee table.

"By relaxing." Conan looked up again. Light was sure he'd heard wrong.

"Relaxing?" He asked. Conan just nodded his head. "That's how you intend to trick L?"

"It probably doesn't make sense to you, but you're going to drive yourself insane if you keep thinking in terms of 'will L be more suspicious if I do this.' Try to forget about that because you need to do things Kira would do as well as things Kira wouldn't do." Conan went on to explain. "And spend more time around people."

"I'm not a recluse." Light raised an eyebrow.

"You spend too much time studying-it just seems like you're bored all the time." Conan told him. "You're seventeen-about to be eighteen. Act like a teenager."

"Says the child that act like an adult." Ai offered.

"Oi oi."

"Bored." Light thought about it. "I suppose that's not far from the truth."

"If you need to keep from feeling bored Yagami-kun, just hang around Edogawa-kun, there's always something going on around him." Ai looked up from her magazine to tease him. Conan shot her a glare.

"It's not that bad."

Light thought back to the first time he'd met Conan-in that time there had been a murder, the next time he saw Conan was at the Kid heist, the bus jacking incident was after that, shortly after he'd gotten himself kidnapped and locked in a burning building, and there was a murder at the cafe they ate breakfast at the next day. He supposed Inspector Isobe's death counted too.

He could see her point.

As though to prove Conan wrong there was a sudden loud crash just outside the house and Conan lept over the couch to go to the window to see what had happened. A car had crashed directly into a light post.

"Be quiet." Conan hissed at the look Haibara gave him. And Light watched as Conan dashed outside and over to the smashed car. Windshield busted-air bag deployed. It didn't look good for the driver. Still though, Conan moved to the driver's side door and pulled it open to check the man's pulse.

"Haibara." He said gravely. "Please call the police." He watched as Haibara pulled out her phone and moved over to as he'd told her. "Kastu Juri aged twenty-seven." Conan had taken the ID out of the victim's wallet. He glanced down at something and then went to the other side to climb into the passenger's seat.

"It's just a traffic accident." Light stated, moving a little closer to watch what Conan was doing. "There's no need to-"

"No." Conan cut him off. "This was murder." Light sighed. All that had happened was that a car drove into a light post. How could he say it was a murder with such certainty.

"How can you be so sure? Murder's have become fairly rare thanks to Kira." He pointed out. The crime rate had dropped significantly after all-especially the murder rate.

"Three things." Conan responded, holding three fingers up. "One, this car was put in neutral before it rolled down the hill. Second, we didn't hear the sound of the brakes being applied before the crash. Third, the victim's foot is on the accelerator, not the brake pedal. If it were an accident, then he would have tried to apply the brakes but he didn't. Which means that he was either unconscious or, more likely, he was already dead when he was put the car."

Okay, so it was murder. That established, Conan pulled the the glove compartment open.

"Besides, the murder rate didn't actually go down that much." Wait. What? He'd seen the ratings himself-how could Conan say it wasn't down?

"The murder rate has significantly decreased-the news has even shown the graphs." He countered.

"Sure." Conan agreed. "The official rating would have you believe that the murder rate has gone down by nearly half-but that's an inflated number." What was he talking about?

"How is that an inflated number?"

"Those are just the ratings for crimes recorded as murders. But-" Conan was climbing into the back seat for some reason. "-if you look at the accident and suicide ratings-they've gone up by about forty percent-maybe a little less." What did that have to do with-"It isn't that murders aren't being committed-people are just getting better at disguising them."

That. That couldn't have been true. Conan had to be lying-trying to convince him that what he was doing was pointless. Just senseless murder.

"It could just be the people committing suicide are guilty of some crime." Light pointed out. Conan resurfaced from the back seat of the car to fix him with a look.

"Really Yagami? People are killing themselves because they're afraid of getting killed?" Ryuk needed to shut up. This was not amusing. This was-He tried to think of something to say in response.

"Maybe they just wanted to get it over with."

"For some of them-that might be true, but not all. Besides, the accidental deaths have gone up too-that has nothing to do with Kira. You've seen three murder cases since I've known you-Not counting Isobe. I solved seven cases in December and so far two this month. You want to say the rating has gone down?"

Light felt his mouth going dry. What Conan was saying-it-No. He was cleaning up the world. The crime rate had gone down.

It _had_ to have gone down.


	26. Message

The murder rate hadn't actually gone down as much he'd thought. He thought that by people knowing they could be killed at any moment then it would eventually stop the murders-eventually he'd take out all the bad people and the only ones left would be the good and innocent.

According to Conan, he'd seen a decrease in premeditated murders, but as long as humans were able to feel emotion there would always be crimes of passion. There was no deterring that because anyone that snaps in the heat of the moment wasn't going to be thinking about the fact Kira might kill them later. They probably thought about that after the deed was done, which was why people were disguising their crimes as accidents and suicides.

After the murder had been solved and the murderer was fully in police custody, Light was finally able to head home. He ignored Ryuk for the most part because in his head he was trying to disprove Conan's theory that all Kira's reign was doing was breeding smarter criminals. That wasn't what happened. Conan had to be lying-what did he know?

The moment he'd gotten home he turned on his computer and looked up murder rates for the past month-it gone down nearly by half of what it was last month-as Conan had said. He checked the accidental deaths and suicides immediately after and found there -had- been about a forty percent increase.

They hadn't learned yet. Light decided, pulling out the Death Note. It would be suspicious for Kira to suddenly stop anyway, and Conan already said he couldn't turn Kira in for fear of what that organisation would do. He filled in five pages worth of names-spacing out the deaths in order to make sure the killings were happening over a series of days. He'd just have to deal with Conan later.

"So you're not stopping?" Ryuk asked as Light moved to the next page.

"Of course not. Eventually, people will catch on." He stated. Now, he needed to find someway to get rid of the two brats that thought they could control him.

oooOOOooo

After having successfully solving the murder using Agasa's voice-domestic dispute-girlfriend shoved drunk boyfriend down the stairs and so on-she hadn't meant to do it but then she had tried to hide the crime-Shinichi let Yagami return home and went back into Agasa's house to collapse on the couch again.

He should probably go back to the agency but it was almost four in the morning so there was little point in it. Ran would probably tell him off for being out all night and not telling her where he was.

"You shook him up pretty badly." Haibara stated, handing him a spare blanket. He sat up to take it and stared at her.

"I told him the truth. Even if it seems harsh." He spread the blanket over the couch. "He needed to know. If he realises that killing criminals isn't doing any good then he might feel more inclined to stop."

"You'll have to keep an eye on him though. More than likely he'll just want to kill you even more." She pointed out. Shinichi shrugged.

"He'd have to learn my real name-and thanks to Kid showing up that one time-even if he started to suspect he'll remember seeing Conan and Shinichi in the same place."

"I hope you know what you're doing. Aside from the Organisation, I don't think you've ever been against anyone more dangerous." She sighed.

"A-Aa..." Shinichi responded pensively.

"Goodnight Kudou-kun." She told him, shutting the light off and headed for the stairs.

"Goodnight." He responded, laying on the couch again and staring up at the ceiling. He probably wouldn't be able to sleep.

As it turned out, shooting L with the sleeping dart had not been the best idea as when Conan made it to school the next day that same damn limo was waiting for him outside Teitan elementary. He glanced at Haibara and she yawned.

"You're the one that upset him." She stated. He sighed at how unhelpful she could be sometimes. He'd angered L and Kira. Way to go Kudou.

"Conan-kun." Shinichi cringed at the sound of that voice. It would be okay-L couldn't do anything to him-he couldn't prove that he knew anything and no matter who he was, the Kira task force would never be okay with detaining a seven year old. His apparent age would protect him.

"Yes?" He answered, moving to a fight or flight stance, eyes narrowing.

"I am going to have to take you with me. We need to talk about last night." He probably meant the fact that Conan had knocked him out and then escaped the hotel-hopefully he didn't know about Sera's involvement. He glanced back at Haibara, hoping she might do something.

"Conan-kun!" The overly excited voice of Yoshida Ayumi flooded into his ears and she rushed up, gripping his arm. "Where are you taking Conan-kun?" She demanded.

"Conan is a member of the Detective Boys, you can't just take him." Kojima Genta stated.

"We have an important meeting later." Tsuburaya Mistuhiko added. These kids. L looked at the actual seven year olds that were not willing to let Conan go.

"If you're hiring him for a case you have to take all of us-" Genta started.

"-We're a team!'" Ayumi finished.

L stared down at them, unsure of what to do. He was the one who made the mistake of trying to kidnap him outside the school. Ayumi pulled Shinichi back a little more, glaring at the man she did not realise was the legendary detective L. They'd probably change their tone if they did know.

"I apologise, but I must speak with Conan-kun alone. I will return him later."

"Conan-kun doesn't want to go with you!" Ayumi stated defensively, hugging his arm closer to her. How did these kids get to know him so well?

"He does not have a choice-what I have to discuss with him is very important." L explained. "He is just uncomfortable with the subject matter."

"Then you have to take all of us." Mistuhiko insisted. Good luck convincing them otherwise.

"If he's uncomfortable then he should have his friends with him. Ne, Ai-chan?" Ayumi turned to Haibara who just yawned and shrugged.

"Aa." She offered as unhelpfully as she could.

"Unfortunately, I must insist that Conan-kun come with me, alone." Shinichi sighed. They'd be here all day at this point because these kids were stubborn and there was nothing L could do to them-if he did then Shinichi would act accordingly.

"It's okay." He finally caved. "I'll go with you." He felt Ayumi's head turn towards him.

"You don't have to Conan. We'll protect you." Genta assured. Shinichi shot a 'do something!' look towards Haibara. She sighed.

"This man obviously has some kind of business with Edogawa-kun, and we're about to be late. I'm sure he'll let him go once they've finished talking." Haibara stated calmly.

"But-! Ai-chan!" Ayumi insisted.

"It's really okay, Ayumi-chan. I'll be back before the first hour." Shinichi tried to assure her. Ayumi pouted but slowly started to let his arm go.

"Yes, I will return him." L stated. Probably lying.

"...Are you sure Conan-kun, you don't have to." Mitsuhiko pressed.

"I'm sure." Shinichi offered a bit nervously. "I'll see you guys in class." He waved them off.

"What do you want?" Shinichi demanded once the door was closed and the detective boys couldn't hear him.

"I believe you already know. And please don't think that you can use the same trick on me twice." L said, there was something like annoyance in his voice. It was unsurprising-he did shoot him with a sleeping dart.

"And I already said I don't know anything." Shinichi said pointedly. "Kidnapping me-which I'd like to point out is extremely illegal-won't change that."

"And it has already been established that you lied. Now, why are you protecting Kira when he has killed thousands of people. Do you not think he deserves to be brought to justice?" L inquired. Shinichi took in a breath.

He did think that Kira-or Yagami should have to atone for his crimes but in the interest of the general public he had to do everything he could to keep L from getting to Yagami. His weapon could not fall into the wrong hands or rather-worse hands.

"I said I don't know anything." He repeated. "If I did, I would tell you."

"You do know something, and you are not telling me. I will not let you escape this time."

"Kidnapping a minor is a pretty major offense, L-san. Not even you are immune to the law." Shinichi stated, annoyed. Not this again.

"It is unfortunate then, that you have forced my hand, Conan-kun."

"I didn't force you to do anything-I said I don't know anything and you refuse to believe me. I'm sure your task force will have something to say about this." Shinichi gritted his teeth.

"You will not be meeting them. They would not understand the necessity of my actions." Shinichi sucked in a breath through his nose and exhaled. This was getting _very_ annoying.

"Your actions involving kidnapping a first grader that you _insist_ has knowledge about an extremely confidential case that you, L, do not have?" Shinichi offered. "No, I guess they wouldn't, and I don't think a judge will either."

"Do not make this more difficult than it has to be." L advised. Shinichi just huffed.

"I said I don't know anything."

"If you cannot tell me what you know, then at least explain to me why." L offered a compromise. Shinichi wanted to take it but it was too risky. This needed to be handled with discretion and L might not believe him that the organisation was a much bigger threat.

"Like I said. I don't. know. anything." He was going to have to work out another escape plan. Hopefully this one would be the last one.

oooOOOooo

By January sixteenth, Light had written in hundreds of new names. He'd expected to get an angry phone call or visit from Conan but neither he or Haibara had made contact-he was curious as to why but not curious enough to look into it. He had other things to think about-like the entrance exam he'd be taking tomorrow. He wasn't concerned about it at all but since the sixteenth also happened to be a Kid Heist night he used it as an excuse to visit Aoko-saying that he wanted her help for some last minute studying.

She was more than happy to accommodate-she'd get company and be helping a friend as that still seemed to be all she saw him as. That or she was just really good at hiding her interest. She did help him study for the first few hours but then had gotten up to make dinner and left him to study at the table on his own.

Dinner simmering on the stove, she returned to the table, only this time she had a drawing pad and some pencils. Was she artist as well as a math genius? He glanced over to see what she'd drawn but all it was was a picture of the Kid insignia with an 'x' over it.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"Making a sign." She said simply, starting to write the word 'KID.' Of course she'd make an anti-Kid sign.

"She really hates that guy." Ryuk commented. Light resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He was well aware of Aoko's feelings for the Kaitou Kid, and he was not in the mood to listen to her rant. Before she could get started he reached over to put a hand on her arm. She looked up at him.

"You know that I agree with your opinion on Kid, but I will say it's because of him that I can spend the evening alone with you." He told her. He watched as her cheeks immediately went red and she looked away-probably hoping that he wouldn't notice her blushing but it was too late.

"I wouldn't-um-I mean I guess but-!" While she sat there stammering he moved closer, gently grabbing her chin to turn her face back towards him before pressing his lips against hers-nice and gentle. He felt the resulting shock but was pleased that once it wore off she slowly returned the kiss-hesitant and painfully inexperienced but he'd been expecting that-it was only her first one, after all.

Very slowly, he pulled back, keeping his light grip on her chin.

"You're so cute when you blush like that." She blushed worse.

"I-I um-!" He kissed her again.

"For luck." He said.

"M-Mm..." She just nodded. Kid rant successfully avoided, he released her and turned back to his studying. She sat there a moment longer-probably still processing what just happened and then got up to find something to do in the kitchen. He stared down at the book he'd been using again but found himself listening more to what Aoko was doing-washing dishes.

His phone sprang to life and nearly startled him. A quick look at the caller ID and he sighed. The phone call he'd been waiting on.

"Aoko-chan, I need to take this." He stated, knowing better than to ignore the call as Conan would likely just call back. Or somehow come find him.

"Need to talk to your keeper?" Ryuk laughed, Light shot him a glare as he stepped out of the kitchen and finally answered the phone.

"Yes?"

"What the Hell Yagami?" The angry tones of the false seven year old demanded. "Is this like some kind of addiction to you? How hard is it to _not_ kill people?"

"I realised that the message wasn't being well received." He stated. He heard Conan groan in frustration.

"No. It damn well _isn't_. And it won't _ever_ be 'well received', do you know why?" Light gritted his teeth. What could this brat possibly know about how Kira would be received in the long run? "Because you can't 'punish' those who have committed crimes that _you_ don't know about. It proves that Kira is nothing more than a _serial killer_ and they just have to cover their tracks better."

Nothing more than a serial killer? His grip tightened on the phone. He was getting tired of this. Eventually they'd learn-they'd all learn. Even Conan. If only he could just learn his real identity then he could take the annoying thorn out of his side.

"It's been two days, why are you only just now calling." Light asked. If he cared so much why didn't he call the first day?

"I... wasn't able to." Conan stated. "Don't. Kill. _Anyone._ Else."

"How do you intend to stop me?" Light baited. He heard Conan suck in a breath to keep his temper. He'd struck a nerve. Good.

"Don't. Challenge me." He said through obviously gritted teeth before he disconnected the line. He couldn't do anything and he knew it. Light looked over to see that Ryuk seemed amused and glared. It wasn't funny.


	27. Break

(( So I ended up taking a short break because the Death Note timeline is about to deviate significantly from the original timeline. For those that were wondering: Yes, Misa will be involved but not until April-May of the timeline and we are just now leaving...January... Anyways! Here is chapter 27! ))

Things were so much worse than Shinichi had realised and he already knew things were reaching catastrophic proportions. He still had to find some way out of Vermouth's ultimatum, the black organisation member, 'Absinthe' being on the Kira task force and now this. Yagami couldn't be trusted. He was like some petulant child that was throwing a tantrum because life didn't work the way he wanted it to. A petulant child with a very dangerous weapon. He seemed to think that if he killed enough people that crime would stop. It wasn't just childish-it was idiotic. Which didn't make sense because Yagami wasn't an idiot. How had he gotten it in his head that killing criminals was the right thing to do to-that some how that would create world peace? Crime didn't solve crime no matter how big of a tantrum he could throw. He had to know that.

He set the phone down,rubbed at his temples and leaned back on the couch. Haibara was sitting in the room, magazine opened and flipping through its pages.

"What do you intend to do if he does challenge you?" She asked, not looking up. Shinichi looked over at her, trying to think of something. In all honesty he had no idea what to do but he needed to think of something. Yagami was going to need to be watched almost constantly. The problem was that he couldn't make it obvious that he was keeping tabs on Yagami or else L would notice and move in and when that happened-

"I don't know, but I'll figure something out." He stated.

"Kudou-kun, if Yagami-kun seems convinced that all criminals should die-perhaps you should introduce him to one?" Haibara offered. "It might make him realise that they aren't all evil."

Shinichi considered her suggestion carefully-she was right. This all stemmed from Yagami's hatred of criminals-the childish belief that they were all evil and deserved death. Shinichi could never understand what drove someone to kill another person but he did know that there were several times in which the murder had resulted in a misunderstanding or the culprit thought they had no other choice.

"I need to make a phone call." Shinichi stated, reaching for his phone again, pulling up Hattori's contact information

"Yo! Kudou!" Hattori answered near automatically. Was he just sitting there waiting for him to call? Whatever.

"Hey, I need a favor." He cut right to the chase as he was expected to do when he was the one calling. He didn't call just to talk unless it was the end of the month and it was time to tally up their cases. Sometimes if it had been a while since Hattori had last called.

"Uh, sure. What do ya need? I'm afraid I don't have any interestin' cases at th' moment." Hattori stated.

"This has to do with a previous case. Do you know where Robert Taylor is being held?" He asked quickly. Hattori was silent for a moment as he processed the request.

"Not off th' top of my head but I can find out. What would ya wanna revisit that case for though?" He asked. Shinichi sighed.

"I need to introduce him to someone." He stated. "I think it might help them." He heard Hattori let out a breath on the other end.

"Yeah, lemme see if Otaki-han can find out. Guess that means you'll be headed up to Tottori soon, huh? Want me t' see about hotels?"

"Aa, I'll have to figure out when the next available holiday is."

oooOOOooo

Light should have expected it when Conan showed up at his door and demanded they have a talk. He would have refused, especially since he had an important test in about two hours, but he wasn't in a position to do so. So, he led Conan up to his room and then sat on the desk chair, making sure to block the desk drawer as subtly as he could. Was he here to just watch him?

Conan didn't bother to take a seat or climb up on the bed. Instead he turned and faced Light with a serious expression on his face.

"Yagami. Have you ever solved a murder before?" He asked. Light started to respond but Conan cut him off. "-I don't mean by contributing-I mean solving every piece of the crime yourself-Investigating the crime scene, conducting the interviews, working out the method, finding the evidence, and of course-learning about the motive."

Admittedly, he had not. Not to the extent that Conan was talking about. He'd helped with several investigations-mostly insurance fraud.

"I didn't think so." Conan stated, reading between the lines. "You seem to be under the impression that all criminals are evil and deserve to die but in actuality-though I could never understand why anyone would want to kill someone-many of them feel like they didn't have any other choice." Why was he telling him this? What was the point? Light glanced over at Ryuk and then back at Conan.

"And?"

"They're not evil. Misguided, and often tragic but not evil." Conan stated. "They don't deserve to die because they made a terrible choice." Light stared at the small detective, sure there were some people that didn't deserve to die-but then there were those that were just a menace to society.

"And those that kill for fun? That enjoy it?" Light pressed.

"Then they should be locked away where then can't hurt anyone-but not killed." He countered. "The only thing you're doing when you kill someone is making someone else suffer the loss. It's already been established the murder rate isn't really going down. You must have checked the accidental death and suicide rating by now." Conan's eyes narrowed. "So why do you keep _murdering_ people?"

"Eventually-" Light started but Conan didn't let him finish.

"No. There is no 'eventually'. You can't solve murder with more murder. That's _not_ how the world works and if you think it is then you're not only childish-you're an idiot." Light's eyes narrowed-he hadn't really just called him an idiot had he? If only he could just get his real identity and be done with him.

Unfortunately, they were both in a position where neither one could do anything to the other. Although in Conan's case he had to actively protect Kira from L. It was about the only thing the brat was good for.

"Don't you think it would seem suspicious if Kira just suddenly stopped killing criminals?" Light asked. Conan's palm met with his forehead and slowly dragged it down his face.

"I don't care. No one else would die. As a detective that's the only result I care about. Stopping the casualties." He took in a breath to calm himself. "You do realise that if the organisation becomes convinced you're Kira they'll probably take measures against you just because you're a suspect? It's not unlike them to take something out before it becomes a threat. Think about it in terms of your own survival if you _must._ Just. Don't. Kill. _Anyone. Else_. After all, the next place they bomb just might be To Oh university."

His survival? In order for them to get to him they'd have to catch him. Light liked to think he'd done a good job covering his tracks. Then again, this annoying pest had worked out the truth. If anyone worked out that Conan knew who Kira was it could be trouble for both of them.

"...Fine." Light finally voiced, he could take a small break from being Kira in order to do away with the organisation-if it really was as much of a threat as Conan and Ai had made it out to be. Conan sighed in relief.

"Thank you." He stated.

"Although, you should know the deaths will continue for the next few weeks-once they're scheduled they can't be canceled." Light stated. Conan's eyes narrowed. "Those are the rules."

"What rules?" Conan asked suspiciously. Light stood up from his chair after checking his watch and gestured to his door.

"Don't worry about it. Now, If you don't mind I have an entrance exam to take." Conan glared but at least he towards the door.

"Yagami." He stopped just before leaving. What did he want now? "On the next holiday, you're coming with us to Tottori. If you're uncomfortable with that-then you can invite someone along."

"If you're going to insist." Light opened the door for him with an irritated sigh and Conan finally left. Once he was on the other side of the door, Light shut it and and turned immediately to Ryuk.

"Are you really going to stop writing in the Death Note?" Ryuk questioned. Light shot him a glare.

"I don't have a choice if what Conan says about that organisation is true. It'd be far too dangerous to continue. L is one thing, but if there's an organisation after Kira then they'll have to be dealt with first. Besides, if I accidentally kill someone else associated with them, they might blow something else up. It's not worth the collateral damage or the risk. They have to go first."

oooOOOooo

The next holiday didn't come about until February, and Shinichi had ended up having to tap into the Kudou bank account to pay for everything-or more specifically-he wired the money to Hattori and had him put everything in his name. That way no one would know that Kudou Shinichi paid for the trip. At least, no one except for his parents as he did have to warn them despite that they probably would make it back in royalties the next day.

Now, he just had to get through the next few days which might be a little more difficult than he'd originally thought because-He glanced over at Hakuba Saguru who apparently was a friend of Yagami's girlfriend and was accompanying them because Kaitou Kid just so happened to schedule a heist in Tottori that weekend. Hattori wasn't going to like this. This wasn't part of the original plan.

"You seem uncomfortable." Yagami was seated across from him, Shinichi just let out a sigh.

"That's because Ha-Heiji-niichan-" He corrected since Ran was right beside him. "-and Hakuba-no-niichan don't get along very well." He explained.

"Eh? Hakuba-kun doesn't?" Yagami's girlfriend-Nakamori Aoko questioned as she looked over at the blonde detective. "He doesn't really get along with Kaito either…"

"Hattori-kun and I had a few disagreements on a previous case." Hakuba explained.

"But it turned out that Heiji-niichan was right though, didn't it?" Shinichi offered 'innocently.' Hakuba sighed.

"Yes, I suppose that is true." He confessed. "Well Aoko-kun, if it upsets you I will do my best to remain civil." Hakuba said smoothly, running a hand through his hair. Shinichi bit back a sigh. He was stuck on a six and half hour train ride with these people? How irritating. At least he'd have Hattori to talk to for three of those hours. He yawned and turned his attention to the book he had brought with him. Three hours was plenty of time to finish it.

Light watched as Conan turned his attention to a book-undoubtedly a mystery-and then glanced out at the scenery whizzing by them. He looked back as he felt a weight against his shoulder. Aoko had decided to lean against him while she read the book that she'd brought. He shifted just slightly so he could put his arm around her. It seemed she was much more comfortable about initiating contact after that first kiss.

"Ah! You're still dating Nakamori-keibu's daughter?" Ran asked excitedly. Light waited for Aoko to try and say they weren't dating but she didn't. She must have finally accepted that they were, in fact, dating.

"Yes." Light answered when she didn't-maybe too engrossed in her book. "I guess it's been about two months now since that night."

"It's good to see you and Aoko-san are still getting along so well." Ran said happily.

"Yagami-kun has been spending more time around Aoko-kun than anyone else lately." Hakuba spoke up. "Ah, well then if Yagami-kun and Aoko-kun are paired up, perhaps I could be Ran-san's date?"

"Eh?" Ran squeaked, her cheeks a little pink. Conan snapped his book closed and glared up at the British detective sitting next to him.

"I was only kidding." Hakuba assured. Ran gave a nervous laugh and looked out the window. Conan only continued to glare at the detective. That was right-Conan had a crush on Ran. Although, knowing now that he wasn't really seven-was it just a crush? It had been pretty obvious that Ran and that Kudou Shinichi were together so was it possible that-?

"Yo, Ran." A voice cut off his thoughts and Kudou Shinichi appeared in the doorway of the car and completely crushed his forming theory.


	28. Trainride

(( So... the chapters kinda slowed a bit but I'm still writing, I promise! I'm just more or less trying to keep the status quo with a body falling from the sky when ever Hattori and Kudou are around. ))

There was something going on that L was not aware of. He could feel it. He'd done extensive research on the boy Edogawa Conan and everything he'd read would suggest that he'd be more than happy to offer up helpful information regarding the Kira case. There was something he was clearly afraid of and it wasn't Kira himself. He knew this because Conan had apparently invited Yagami Light on a weekend trip with a few friends in Tottori.

Something else that was bothering L was the fact that due to the tragedy that befell the Haido City Hospital, the Kira case was placed on a temporary hold while an investigation was launched into the bombing. L didn't think the math worked out- there were four-hundred-fifty-seven people in that hospital at the time of the explosion-Kira had killed hundreds of thousands of people. In his eyes, Kira was still the more pressing concern.

However, in the past two weeks the killings had slowed significantly. He hadn't killed anyone broadcasted on the news in that time so, was it possible he taking a break because of the explosion? There had still been several Kira murders but they were all criminals that were in prison before the attack on the hospital. Perhaps Kira was looking into this?

With the Kira case at a standstill, L was left with just reviewing information. Namely, everything they already knew. It only seemed to reaffirm his suspicion that Yagami Light had to be Kira. He supposed though, that since Hakuba Saguru hadn't really been around much during the time the houses were under surveillance it was still possible that he was Kira instead. There was also another suspect-one that certainly fit the description of childish, connections to the police and wealthy. That person was the missing high school detective Kudou Shinichi.

He had been under the belief that the rumour that Kudou Shinichi had met with an untimely end had been true. However, with a bit of extensive research he had found that none of Kudou's close friends or family seemed to act like he was dead or even missing. There was no official missing person's report meaning that Kudou Shinichi had to have been in contact with someone .

Considering that Kudou generally worked with the Tokyo Metropolitan Police and specifically the Homicide division and Megure Juzo he made a call to first division and he was surprised to find that Megure insisted that he hadn't heard anything from Kudou in some time. That wasn't true though, while most of first division insisted the same as Megure there was one officer that informed him that Shinichi had been active, he'd just been secretive lately and liked to keep his name out of the papers.

Kudou Shinichi was probably not Kira. With the cases he'd solved and the fact that none of the hundreds of cases solved by him had resulted in suicide pointed to the idea that Kudou had a hero complex but not a god complex. Although he had to consider the idea that the Modern Day Sherlock Holmes and Saviour of the Japanese Police Force had just gotten tired of all the murder and took matters into his own hands.

It was probably Yagami. His gut told him it was Yagami. However, he had to admit that Kudou's absence was suspicious. Maybe even suspicious enough that he was more likely to be Kira than Yagami, but he just didn't think so. Interestingly enough, he'd found that Edogawa Conan was acquainted with the Kudou Family-Distant Cousin's according to Megure. It couldn't have been a coincidence. There was something else going on and it might explain why Kudou was in hiding and why Conan was afraid to give him information. Although if that were the case, then what did all this have to do with the Kira case? Whatever it was he would need to find Kudou Shinichi if only to squash the rising suspicion that he just might be Kira.

"Yagami-san." L looked over at the head of the violent crimes division. He'd been a bit distracted due to stress and the recent bombing in the Haido district but he responded just the same.

"Yes?"

"What do you know of Detective Kudou?" He asked. First division may have been loyal to Kudou, but Yagami Soichiro would probably understand the importance of the question.

"Kudou Shinichi-kun?" Soichiro blinked, thinking about the question. "I've only met him a few times-once back when he was ten and Kudou Yuusaku was still consulting for the Tokyo Police department and twice when he was called into help with a particularly perplexing case. He solved it pretty quickly and didn't seem to be squeamish despite that they were both dismemberment cases." He supplied. L considered the information carefully.

"How old was he at the time?" L questioned, Kudou Shinichi was seventeen and was only sixteen at the time he stopped appearing in papers and fourteen when he started consulting for the police. It was a little concerning that he hadn't been squeamish with that kind of case. It meant that Kudou Shinichi probably had a gift for removing his emotions from certain circumstances. It did not help to clear his name.

"Once when he was fifteen and then again after he turned sixteen-a few months before he suddenly disappeared." Soichiro offered. "He'd been showing such promise too-most of the department thought he might have been better than even you."

"I should tell you that the possibility that Kudou Shinichi is Kira is not zero percent. However, this is only because he is currently missing." L explained.

"He's still alive?" Soichiro seemed honestly surprised by this development-apparently it was just first division that had vowed to shield Kudou from whatever threat he was facing.

"Yes, I believe there is a very good chance that he is, ninety-six percent at least." There was practically no doubt in L's mind that Kudou Shinichi was still alive. The question was why was he in hiding and what was he hiding from?

oooOOOooo

"Yo, Ran!" A voice pulled Shinichi away from the glare he'd focused on Hakuba and received a pretty nasty shock when he looked up to see himself-or Kudou Shinichi.

"You!?" The real Shinichi demanded. Kid just flashed him a grin. Although Shinichi could have sworn his eyes just shot towards Yagami but why-?

"Shinichi?" Ran stuttered in near disbelief, of course she'd fall for it. "What are you doing here?" Kid looked offended.

"I heard from the inspector that you were on the same train-thought I'd come say hi. But if you don't want me here..."

"No! That's not what I meant, you can stay." Ran offered. "You don't have a problem with it, do you?" She asked the group. Aoko and Yagami both shook their head and Hakuba stood up to sit on the other side of the car which meant that Aoko had to sit back upright.

"So, you're lending a hand with the Kid case?" Hakuba asked, sounding vaguely suspicious. At least he didn't fool everyone in the room.

"Yeah, I have something to take care of up that way anyway so I might as well, right?" Kid offered sheepishly. Terrible. Shinichi would never act like that. That aside, he pulled out his phone to send a text to Hattori, warning him of this development. Kid sat down beside Shinichi who was now acting as a buffer between him and Ran. A very grouchy buffer. He started to say something but instead ended up sneezing harshly.

"Conan-kun!" Ran immediately turned to him. "Are you getting sick?" She questioned. Shinichi shook his head as his attention was torn away from Kid.

"I'm fine." He assured her before turning back to the thief. "Shinichi-niichan." He glared darkly. "Don't you have some other case to work on?" Kid just ruffled his hair-a little rougher than necessary.

"Yes, but that case is up in Tottori. What's the matter Conan-kun, don't want me here?" He teased. Shinichi just glared.

"Conan-kun! Don't be rude. It's a good thing if Shinichi joins us." Ran chided. At the sound of that tone, he was forced to settle down and turned back to his book, though he kept a close eye on Kid the entire time. It seemed Hakuba was doing the same.

"Shinichi-niichan! Will you come with me to get juice?" Shinichi asked his imposter innocently, a clear threat hidden in his voice. Kid looked around the compartment a moment before just sighing.

"Sure kid, come on." He stood up and Shinichi slid off his seat.

"Be careful, don't get into any trouble." Ran waved them off. Shinichi gave her a quick nod and closed the compartment door behind him before dropping the facade of Edogawa Conan entirely.

"What are you doing here?" He demanded.

"I have to get to Tottori somehow, detective." Kid offered with a shrug. "You wanted juice?" He moved towards the dining car. Shinichi shot him a glare-that still didn't really answer the question. "Don't look so sour."

"I think I'm entitled." Shinichi stated, following after him. "And I'd rather have iced coffee."

"Your girlfriend will kill me if I give you coffee." Kid sighed.

"No she won't. Ran knows I like iced coffee. Besides, since you barged in on our group it can be your treat." Kid shot a glare down at him but didn't object. "Oh, if you're going to pretend to me, I should probably loan you this." He fished his 'Shinichi' phone out of his pocket.

"You're just gonna let me borrow your identity?" Kid took it carefully, no doubt suspicious as why Shinichi was just giving it to him. Shinichi just offered a shrug.

"As it turns out, you showing up as me is actually a pretty big favor." He admitted.

"Okay, now I'm curious." Kid turned the device on and stored it in his pocket. "Your girlfriend on verge of discovering your secret again?" He teased. Shinichi shook his head.

"Actually, it's Yagami that I need to keep the truth from." He stated. Kid looked down at him in confusion. As far as Shinichi knew, Kid and Yagami had only ever crossed paths once. The time during Conan's kidnapping didn't count due to the fact he was in disguise the whole time.

They finally reached the dining car and found a table sit at so Shinichi could order his iced coffee and it gave him a little time to just be himself which was greatly appreciated. The dining car was full of people and fairly noisy so it wasn't quite as relaxing as Shinichi would have liked but all he had to do was tune out the background noise.

"What's wrong with Yagami-san?" Kid asked as Shinichi sipped at the iced coffee.

"Nothing." He lied quickly. "I just don't want anyone else finding out the truth."

"You do realise that I, being a professional, can tell when I'm being lied too, right? If you specifically referred to it as a 'pretty big favor.' There is a specific reason you don't want Yagami to know your identity." Kid pointed out, watching Shinichi expectantly. Shinichi just glared, not too happy about being called out on his lie. He couldn't really tell Kid that Yagami was Kira-he hadn't even told Hattori. Besides, Kid might try to take the information L.

"Don't worry about it." Shinichi told him. "I have it under control." Kid leveled him with a glare. What did he care so much for anyway? "You don't like him, do you?"

"No." Kid answered honestly. "There's just something about him that makes me uneasy." Shinichi poked at the ice in his glass. That wasn't too surprising, considering.

"But don't -I- make you uneasy? You don't dislike me." Shinichi pointed out. Kid shook his head.

"Not that kind of uneasy." He stated. "I can't quite put my finger on it-." Shinichi shrugged, not willing to tell him it was because Yagami was a mass murderer.

"I probably won't make your heist, I'm afraid. Hattori booked the rooms out in the woods by a lake. He said there was a discount because the owner of the lodge was trying to fill all the rooms." He changed the subject.

"I'm staying at the same Lodge." Kid offered nonchalantly.

"...Really? Are you stalking Hattori now?" Shinichi looked unimpressed. "And why tell me? I could just tell Nakamori, you know." Kid smirked.

"I'm borrowing your identity, remember? If you expose me, it'll undoubtedly expose you." Shinichi glared darkly, knowing he was right.

"In that case, maybe Conan will want to stay with Shinichi-niichan." He threatened. Kid shrugged it off.

"Sorry Conan-kun, no can do. I'm working on other cases that It's best you don't get involved in-I'm sure Ran will understand." Kid smirked again. Shinichi sucked angrily on his straw. "Unless." Kid caught his attention. "You tell me why you don't want Yagami to know your identity."

oooOOOooo

Conan and Kudou had been gone for quite some time. He wouldn't tell Kudou about him being Kira, would he? So far the only people that knew were him, Haibara and that Professor Agasa. There was no need to tell anyone else but could he be sure Conan would keep his secret?

"Aoko-chan." He stood up and offered her his hand. "Would you like to join me for a walk?" He asked. Aoko looked up from her book and then up at him back to her book. It must have gotten to a particularly interesting part. However, she closed the book anyway, marking her page and setting it aside before taking his hand. He offered a feigned smile and pulled the car's door open, leading her out.

"We'll be back in a little bit." Aoko offered cheerily as she shut the door behind them. Light immediately turned to kiss her. She did what he expected and pushed him gently off, her cheeks bright red.

"Light-kun! We're in public!" She reminded him. "I don't want-not in front of other people."

"I understand." Light stated, "we'll find find somewhere secluded." He kissed her again just to watch her cheeks get even redder.

"Th-that's not what I-where are we going to find a secluded place?" She asked as he took her hand again and pulled her in the direction of the dining car. Good, now she'd think he dragged her to the dining car in search of some privacy. "The train seems pretty full." Yes, he noticed.

He pulled her into the dining car, located at nearly the back of the car and sighed. "Sorry Aoko-chan, looks like the train is a little too packed." Aoko pulled her hand away from his and shook her head.

"It's okay-I'd rather not anywhere someone could walk in anyway." She glanced around the dining car. "But while we're here, I guess I'm gonna get something to drink. Do you want anything?"

"Just coffee's fine." He assured, stepping closer to kiss her cheek. She blushed and stammered something before moving off to order them drinks. Aoko taken care of for the time being he needed to find the others. He scanned the car carefully and found Kudou and Conan seated in a booth, talking low amongst themselves.

He very carefully moved a bit closer, trying to catch what the two were talking about.

"Sorry Conan-kun, no can do. I'm working on other cases that It's best you don't get involved in-I'm sure Ran will understand." Kudou was saying. "Unless, you tell me why you don't want Yagami to know your identity. "

"I already told you, there's no reason." Conan answered a bit sourly. Light let out a sigh of relief-it seemed that Conan really did intend to protect his secret. "You're just going to have to trust me on this."

"Fine." It seemed Kudou had given up. Light should have expected Conan would be true to his word-the kid was obviously deeply disturbed by the organisation. He had nothing to worry about.

"Light-kun!" Aoko's cheerful voice pulled him out of his thoughts and he turned to see she was holding his coffee out to him. "Here you go." She smiled. He turned to see if the other two had heard her but it didn't seem they had.

"Thanks Aoko-chan." He took it with one hand and grabbed her now free hand with the other to lead her back through the train and to their train car. He opened the door for her as any good boyfriend might and she stepped inside. It seemed Hakuba and Ran had decided to entertain themselves with a card game. One that she seemed to be winning.

He sat back down with Aoko, keeping her hand in his and watched with some vague amount of interest.

"Care to join us?" Hakuba offered. With nothing better to do, Light set his coffee off to the side and let go of Aoko's hand.

"Sure." He nodded.

"Sounds like fun!" Aoko nodded enthusiastically. They were barely into a game of spades before Kudou and Conan finally returned and joined the game. Ran was still winning and Conan was acting like a real seven year old as he found it hilarious that Kudou was starting to get frustrated. Not that Light blamed him-he hated losing too.

What was she cheating? She didn't seem the type but they'd played eight games and Ran had won Every. Single. One. How could she win every single time?

"It's not surprising." Conan seemed to have read his mind. "Ran-neechan always has good luck with this kind of thing." Her luck couldn't be that good. He tried not to show his irritation and they started a ninth game. Which she won. Ryuk now found this as amusing as Conan. Conan's phone buzzed and he took a second to look at it and then laughed harder, looking over at Kudou.

After ten consecutive games of the same game (that Ran won) they switched to Go Fish. She won that too. And then some other card game that she also won. Admittedly, the two and half hours it took to get to Shin-Osaka station went by relatively quickly despite that Light was extremely annoyed that Ran could not be beaten at cards.

oooOOOooo

Hattori and Kazuha joined them at the station and, after a somewhat awkward reunion between Hattori and Hakuba they were moved to a bigger compartment on the train so they'd have room for everyone. Aoko, Kazuha and Ran all seemed to get along just fine but there was a lot of tension between the boys -namely Hakuba and Kid (Shinichi suspected that he was not fooled by the disguise) and Hakuba and Hattori. Surprisingly, Yagami didn't seem that uncomfortable all things considered.

They got to the lodge just after seven and once everyone had settled into their rooms they all met down for dinner. Neither Kid or Hakuba joined them though, they both insisted they had other things to do and would have to take a raincheck. It was better that way, Shinichi didn't want Ran thinking that thief was him and this kept Hattori and Hakuba from arguing. Over dinner they met some of the other people staying in the lodge-a theatre troupe that was there for a film festival.

Shinichi wasn't too interested in their back stories but Ran and Kazuha were as they tended to be a little overly social. They found that it was a monster movie festival and that they were short two people-the writer-who had apparently committed suicide just four months ago, and director who just hadn't turned up yet. The cheerful mood was officially killed and they all went back to eating in awkward silence.

"Excuse me." The owner appeared at their table by Hattori.

"Hm?" He had his mouth full and had to quickly swallow his food while Kazuha muttered something about terrible manners.

"You wouldn't by any chance happen to be Hattori Heiji-Highschool Detective of the West, would you?" The owner asked-Shinichi thought he remembered her name was Hoga Noriko?

"I am!" Hattori said proudly, happy to be recognised. "What can I do for ya?" Hoga looked a bit uncomfortable, as though she wasn't sure she should be asking him.

"It's just that... If you have time I was wondering if you'd mind taking a look at something for me?" She requested. Hattori shot a look down at Shinichi who just shrugged.

"Uh, sure. What's goin' on?" He asked.

"It's just that for the past few nights now there have been some logs that keep landing in the hot springs outback. It's only ever been early in the morning but my family is still concerned someone could get hurt." Hoga explained. Hattori and Shinichi looked at each other, considering the information.

"Sure!" Hattori grinned. "I'd be glad t' take a look around!" He said cheerily. "I may need t' ask yer staff some questions though." Hoga smiled and then nodded.

"Of course, because you'll be doing us such a big favor we're going to to waive the charge for your room." She offered.

"You don't gotta do that-I'm alway happy t' take on an interestin' case." Hattori waived her off. "I'll take a look aroun' after dinner." He promised. Hoga gave him a quick bow and then hurried off.

"And suddenly this has become a business trip for him too." Kazuha sighed. Ran tried to console her and took a drink of tea. Shinichi turned to see what Yagami thought of this development but his expression remained neutral. Maybe he didn't have an interest in it?

Now with a case to look into, Hattori and Shinichi finished up their dinner quickly and left the others in the dining hall. The outdoor bath was set up with a wooden fence around it that was broken in two places. Probably from the logs. There were a few logs piled off to the side that were missing some bark-these were probably the ones that had randomly started appearing. He looked around and found a bit of damage to suggest where some of those logs had landed. Someone was catapulting them to this spot but why?

"It's likely they're being launched from the mountain somewhere-though I don't know why anyone would want to do that." Shinichi voiced. Hattori was in the middle of inspecting some damage done to the outside of the building.

"Yeah, I dunno Kudou." Hattori said, also glancing around the enclosed space. "I suppose we'll have t' go up th' mountain t' find out." Yeah, that was exactly what Shinichi thought.

"Well, it's probably too late to do much tonight. We'll take a look tomorrow morning before we visit Taylor." Shinichi decided. Hattori considered him for a moment.

"So.. is Yagami Kira?" Hattori asked bluntly, nearly causing Shinichi to choke.

"What gave you-"

"C'mon Kudou. Give me more credit than that." Hattori fixed him with a look. "Ya told me last I was in Tokyo you knew who Kira was and then abou' two weeks later ya call ta ask if I knew where Taylor was bein' held because ya wanted t' introduce him t' someone. That someone is Yagami. It's pretty obvious that Kira hates criminals, and Taylor qualifies as a serial killer."

"I can't confirm or deny." Shinichi stated, knowing that Hattori would know he was right.

"So, ya decided what route yer goin or are you just playin' fer time?"

"I'm going to convince him to destroy his weapon. Yagami will get away with murder, but The organisation won't get it and that's the biggest concern." Shinichi admitted.

"Why don't you just destroy it?" Hattori asked. Shinichi sighed, he should have known he'd ask that. At least Hattori would probably understand better than anyone else.

"Because if I do it then he won't regret his actions." Shinichi stated. "It will mean that he hasn't changed. He's already agreed to stop killing people while we're trying to take down the organisation-but only because if he kills the wrong person again it could be To-Oh University they go after next. But there's still time to get through to him."

Hattori watched him carefully before sighing and scratching as his head. He wasn't surprised-there was no way he could be.

"So yer doin' things the Kudou way." He voiced. That was a weird way to put it but Shinichi nodded just the same. The Kudou way?

"Also, Yagami doesn't know my real identity and I'd like to keep it that way." He told the other.

"Sure thing Conan-kun!" Hattori grinned before ruffling his hair. Would he really be able to get it right all weekend? He didn't have much time to glare up at the Osakan though as very suddenly something was launched right into the hot spring-causing a large splash and soaking both detectives.

Once they'd recovered from the shock they looked to see what had landed in the hot spring-A dead body.


	29. Cave In

As it turned out, it wasn't a complete dead body that had landed right in the hot spring-it was missing an arm, the knee down from the left leg and it looked like the head had been smashed in with a rock. The amputations had to have been done post mortem as there were no defensive wounds from what Shinichi could see. What struck him as odd was that the body looked like it had been chewed on although the arm and leg seemed to have been cut off with a saw judging by the jagged cuts. Was someone trying to make it look like the victim had been killed by a wild animal?

"Hattori-" Shinichi started.

"On it." Hattori pulled out his phone and dialed the police while Shinichi ran back inside, skidding to a halt by the dining room where the others were all still chatting.

"C-Conan-kun!" Ran cried in alarm at the state of him-soaked to the bone and breathing hard. She pushed herself up from her chair and moved over to inspect him for injuries. "What happened?" She asked.

"Someone was murdered." Shinichi stated seriously.

"M-Murder?" Aoko questioned, voice slightly shaky. Shinichi raised an eyebrow at her question, but then she probably wasn't used to this kind of thing.

"Uh-huh. Heiji-niichan's calling the police now." Shinichi offered, turning up the childlike charm.

"How'd ya get so soaked?" Kazuha asked, now next to Ran.

"Oh um... the body landed in the hot spring." He explained, taking a step back from the girls.

"Who was the victim?" Yagami asked, getting up from his seat and steering the conversation back in the correct direction. Shinichi ignored the fussing from Ran about him catching a cold and turned to answer Yagami's question.

"I don't know. The head's smashed in pretty badly-all I know for sure is that the victim was male." Shinichi explained, getting a collective shudder from everyone in the room-they clearly didn't like thinking about that.

"I'm going to get Shinichi." Ran decided. Shinichi briefly wondered if Kid could handle a dismemberment case because he was about to have to. "Kazuha-chan, can you make sure Conan-kun gets dried off?" She requested. Now wait a minute, he took a step back.

"I want to see Shinichi-niichan too!" He stated. Ran frowned at him but Kazuha gently gripped his arm.

"You'll see Kudou-kun later, okay?" She told him. "Let's get you all dried off so you don't catch a cold." Before he could object, she scooped him up and carried him towards the stairs while Ran headed for the room Kid was staying in.

The victim was likely the missing director, Takudome Shunji, (they'd had him identified by showing them a picture) from the theatre troupe Ran and Kazuha had made friends with. Which meant it was highly likely that the culprit was among the film crew. The real mystery though, was why would the killer need to catapult the victim into the hot spring? The police were called but due to the location it would still take them some time to get out there. Fortunately, there were plenty of capable minds at the lodge-Hattori Heiji, Kaitou Kid, Hakuba Saguru, and of course Kudou Shinichi himself. Yagami Light also had a capable mind but he wasn't a detective-he had an interest in detective work but it was doubtful his skills were refined enough for this kind of case.

"I think this is the worst I've seen yet." Kid muttered as he was in the middle of taking pictures of the scene. Thankfully, he'd kept most of the shock off his face upon seeing the body.

"You're the one that wanted to disguise as a famous detective." Shinichi reminded him. Kid rolled his eyes and went back to snapping pictures as he'd been instructed to do.

"The injuries reminded me though-I overheard someone in the lobby saying something about an onihitokuchi legend from this area." Kid offered. Shinichi looked back at the body. Was someone doing a poor job of trying to frame a mythical monster? Again. He was going to have to look into that legend though-as it might hold some clues.

"Please don't tell the girls about that." He said calmly, knowing how much this bit of information would upset them. "Though it's pretty obvious that it can't be that."

"Onihitokuchi?" Yagami's voice caught him off guard and he spun around. He hadn't expected Yagami would even want to help with this case-the victim wasn't even all there and there was still a bit of blood. Shinichi noticed his eyes flicker to the corpse and noted that even he seemed a bit disturbed by the sight.

"Aa." He nodded. "It's a mythical beast with one eye that kills and eats humans." He explained. Yagami raised an eyebrow and glanced down at the body again, his lips curling in disgust.

"If there were such a thing-there'd be nothin' left o' this guy-plus th' arm an' leg wouldn't o' needed t' be sawed off. So, some sorta trick had to have been used." Hattori went on.

"It's just someone that wants to pin the crime on an old legend." Hakuba finished. "But they made a mistake, as there are three detectives here."

"Hey!" Shinichi objected in his best indignant seven year old voice. "I'm here too! There's four!" Hakuba blinked and then sighed.

"Right, of course, Sorry Conan-kun. Although I'm not quite sure this is really a case you should be investigating." Shinichi wasn't surprised by his response though he was also certain that Hakuba had included him in the original head count as there were three detectives, one thief and Yagami.

"Lay off. He's helped with plenty o' gruesome cases-one that even involved cartin' a severed head around." Hattori stated, glaring at Hakuba. Shinichi wasn't really sure if that helped matters but Hakuba seemed to back off.

"Anyways, I think we're better off searching the mountains right Heiji-niichan?" Shinichi asked in his best innocent voice. Hakuba stood up from where he'd been inspecting the logs that had been earlier launched before the body. They now new the logs were just a rehearsal for the murder, which of course meant that it had to have been premeditated.

"Be that as it may, it's a bit late to risk going up into the mountains at the moment. We'll have to go first thing in the morning." Hakuba stated. Shinichi and Hattori exchanged looks. It was true that there probably wasn't much to be done tonight but Shinichi knew Hattori well enough to know that wouldn't stop him from trying. Besides, with a murderer around capable of something like this it left open the possibility that the killing wasn't done. The faster they could catch this person the better.

"Sure." Hattori conceded. "Although if we wait too long then we might lose crucial evidence." He pointed out.

"Not to mention this could the beginning of a serial murder." Kid cut in, now done with taking pictures.

"Serial murder?" Yagami turned to Shinichi.

"It's possible-even likely considering the state of the body and the fact no one in the theatre troupe knows who paid for their trip." He stated. "The body being catapulted is likely to scare someone-or possible meant to be some kind of message."

"We can't all go up the mountain-someone should stay here with the girls." Hakuba pointed out. "So how do you want to decide who goes and who stays?" Shinichi was already on it, pulling a few coins from his pockets.

"Heads goes, tails stays." He said brightly. Hakuba sighed but agreed to the method-at least it was effective. A few minutes later and Conan, Kid and Yagami were the ones headed up the mountain-though Hakuba tried to insist that Conan shouldn't have been included in that.

This would be interesting since Kid didn't like Yagami much. Although he was currently in the guise of Kudou Shinichi-who had no reason to hold a grudge against Yagami and he doubted if Kid would jeopardize his disguise.

oooOOOooo

Once Kudou, Yagami and Kid had left the lodge Heiji let out a long suffering sigh before turning to Hakuba. It would be just his luck to end up stuck with this prick. Now they had to work together. Well, if a detective, a thief, and a mass murderer could manage to get along then maybe Heiji could get along with Hakuba. Maybe.

"Shall we gather everyone in one place?" Hakuba offered, running a hand through his hair. Then again, maybe not.

"Yeah, might as well." Heiji conceded-it would at least prevent any more murders. Hopefully. He followed Hakuba back indoors and rounded up all the suspects plus the girls. When Ran asked where Conan was Heiji told her that he'd gone with Kudou. She wasn't happy about this development but thankfully, it was Kid that was bound to be on the receiving end of Mouri Ran's wrath. Although Kazuha did call him an idiot for letting a child go out at night like this. Kudou could handle himself though so he wasn't too concerned. Besides, Kid had saved Conan's life a few times before, there was no reason to think he wouldn't do it again if he had to.

"Kudou'll take good care o' him. Don't worry-And don't forget they have Yagami with 'em they'll be okay." He waved it off. "In th' mean time-everyone needs ta stay in th' same room-the nature o' the murder says that th' killer might not be done just yet."

"We thought it best to eliminate the possibility of more victims." Hakuba supplied.

"When are the police supposed to get here?" One of the theatre troupe-Hirota Sasami asked, sounding a bit grouchy at the fact they were all being confined in the same room. Heiji looked to Hakuba for an answer but ultimately just sighed.

"Afraid I don't know." He admitted.

"In that case, I'm going back to my room. You aren't the police so you can't legally hold us here." She stated, moving towards the stairs to go back up her room. "Shunji-san had a lot of debts-it could have been bill collectors that got him."

Heiji gritted his teeth, knowing that he couldn't stop her. He highly doubted if a debt collector would go through such extreme measures. They'd removed the body from the spring and covered it with a tarp for the police to investigate when they got there, but they hadn't revealed the part about the missing arm or missing foot. It had been Kudou's idea (the real Kudou) to refrain from giving out the exact details of the case on the off chance one of the suspects might slip up and say something they weren't supposed to know about.

"Shuji-kun had a really bad gambling problem. It could have gotten him in real trouble." Another of the troupe said - Yanasaki Kaneko- as Heiji remembered her name was.

"It's unlikely to be debt collectors. Trust me." Heiji stated. "Now did any of ya have reason t' kill Shunji-san?"

"Since you aren't the police-we don't really have to answer your questions." Sasami offered before climbing up the stairs. Heiji just glanced at Hakuba-neither of them could do anything to stop her from leaving despite that they were both detectives and both their dads were chief of police in their respective prefectures-they were still technically just civilians.

"Don't worry about Sasami-san, she was pretty close to Shunji-kun, she's probably just in shock." Kaneko offered. Hakuba pushed his hair out of his face before moving gracefully over to her.

"Aa, yes. I suppose such news would be be shocking for anyone." He stated smoothly. Heiji rolled his eyes, couldn't this guy at least try to keep it in his pants? If he was remembering correctly (and he was) Hakuba had also hit on the female detective at the detective koushien, who ended up being the murderer, pretty heavily. "Was there anything you had to tell us about the victim, perhaps if he had any enemies?"

"Well..." Kaneko started, "Fuwa-kun and he didn't really get along after..." She trailed off. She probably meant the suicide of their writer-Minobe Ande. Something told Heiji there was more to this suicide than met the eye.

oooOOOooo

Light wasn't entirely sure how he'd gotten wrapped up in this trip up the mountain with Conan and Kudou but he'd be lying if he said he wasn't curious. Although, he didn't like that the ground was clearly unstable and muddy-he recalled the Lodge owner talking about this mountain having been practically hollowed out by mining. The unsteady ground was making him nervous. It had rained recently so the three of them had to trudge carefully up the mountain path. Conan had his watch light out and Kudou was using the flashlight app on his phone as they moved through the thick forest. What exactly was it they were looking for anyway?

"We better not come across any wild animals." Kudou was grumbling. Light didn't see it but he got the feeling Conan had rolled his eyes.

"Don't worry about it-we just need to find what launched the body and I've already worked out the area it had to have come from." He stated. Light was not a fan of this-it was cold and his shoes kept getting stuck in the mud-a problem he'd noticed the others seemed to be having as well.

"Do you even know what we're looking for?" Light chanced asking. Conan looked up at Kudou-apparently they did not. They just knew the area in which they would find it. Ryuk was laughing and Light shot him a glare. This was not how he wanted to spend his weekend and if he could manage it he would certainly be writing the murderer's name in the moment he got the chance-there was no way they were part of that organisation.

"It's probably a timed device." Conan offered, not making him feel any better. "As for what it looks like-probably something like a catapult-and I imagine there's an saw or something up here-maybe even the missing arm or foot." The saw might have fingerprints on it, Light realised. It might be worth-he felt the ground cave in beneath him and only managed a sharp cry of alarm before he fell into the cave in.

oooOOOooo

"Yagami!" Shinichi cried out just as he watched him start to get swallowed up by the mountain. Without thinking, he launched himself at the older teen, only succeeding in following the other down. The fall was long and would certainly kill them both so Shinichi had to make sure he was ahead of Yagami so that he could deploy a soccer ball balloon to break their fall-this unfortunately meant that Yagami would have to fall on him.

There was a crash as they hit the balloon cushion and then, inevitably, the ground. He felt Yagami's weight land squarely on top of him, Shinichi let out a sharp cry of pain as Yagami's arm slammed against his ribs. By some miracle though, he didn't think anything was broken but he'd certainly have a lot of uncomfortable bruises.

"You okay?" He groaned out.

"...Yes." Yagami answered before getting up and then offering a hand to Shinichi. The shrunken detective took it and pulled himself to his feet with some amount of difficulty -ribs were definitely bruised. Possibly cracked. Great. Although he should count himself lucky he didn't break his back. "But I think the question is, are you okay?"

"I'll live." Shinichi waved it off. "For now, we should focus on getting out of here." Wherever 'here' was. He glance up the way they had fallen-they might be able to climb up in normal circumstances but the recent rain and mud destroyed that option. He jumped as his phone sprang to life and he quickly answered upon seeing 'Kudou Shinichi' flash on the screen.

"You didn't die, did you detective?" Kid asked immediately. Shinichi scoffed.

"Of course not. I managed to break the fall in time that we're both alive. Think you can get a rope?" He asked. He heard Kid sigh on the other end.

"Did you break Yagami's fall?" Kid asked pointedly.

"I had to." Shinichi responded. "Now go get that rope. I don't want to be down here all night."

"Sure detective, just make sure to take it easy until I get back. I'm sure Yagami's weight was enough to crush you." Kid stated. Shinichi rolled his eyes, not telling Kid about the bruised ribs and disconnected the call. He turned his attention on Yagami, shining his watch light in his direction. He looked like he might have still been trying to process what had happened.

"You sure you're okay?" He asked, turning around to get a better look at the cave. Maybe it led further in and they wouldn't have to rely on Kid to bring the rope.

"I feel like I should be asking you that. Your breathing is shallow." Yagami pointed out. Shinichi didn't sigh as it would cause unnecessary pain but he did try to just move past it. It wasn't like it was important.

"As I said-I'll live." He stated. "It looks like this cave goes on for quite a ways, feel up to exploring?"

oooOOOooo

Everything happened so fast that Kaito wasn't even sure he registered everything correctly. At one moment he was walking along side the little detective with Yagami trailing somewhat behind before there was a cry of alarm and the detective dove after him. Kaito would have jumped after them but everything had happened so fast he was left to stare blankly where it looked like Yagami had discovered an old mine shaft or cave.

He hastily pulled up the contact information on Shinichi's phone and hunted for 'Conan.' Hopefully that fall hadn't been far and if it had, hopefully the idiot had thought of something to keep them both alive.

"You didn't die, did you detective?" He asked once he heard him answer the phone. The breathing wasn't right though-he was injured.

"Of course not. I managed to break the fall in time and we're both alive." Alive. But Kaito couldn't help but notice he didn't say anything about well. "Think you can get a rope?" He asked.

"Did you break Yagami's fall?" He didn't like how shallow the detective's was breathing. Knowing him-he probably used some ridiculous method that saved Yagami's life but caused injury to himself.

"I had to." The detective responded. "Now go get that rope. I don't want to be down here all night." Maybe it was because of the pain, but he sounded even more bitter than usual.

"Sure detective, just make sure to take it easy until I get back. I'm sure Yagami's weight was enough to crush you." He knew that he was wasting his breath the moment he heard the click indicated the detective had hung up on him. He glared at the phone a moment before storing it back in his pocket and starting off back down the mountain-the lodge was sure to have a rope.

They really should have waited until morning to go searching the forest but Kudou and Hattori had been rather insistent. He muttered under his breath about stubborn detectives and had to be careful not to slip down the mucky slope and not find any more hidden caves.

Once it was safe, he slid down the rest of the day and burst into the lodge. He took in a few breaths and saw that the other detectives had only succeeded in keeping a few of the suspects in one place. Evidently, the police still hadn't arrived yet.

"Shinichi, where's Conan-kun?" She would notice immediately that he didn't have the little pest in tow. She was going to kill him when he told her what happened.

"And Light-kun?" Aoko came up from behind her and Kaito had to fight back in eyeroll. Of course she'd be worried about him. It was only natural for her to be worried-but he still didn't like it. He didn't like how close they'd gotten-or the fact she was comfortable with leaning up against him on that train-she didn't even blush! He gritted his teeth and shoved his irritation to the side in favor of playing the role of Kudou Shinichi.

"Conan-kun is with Yagami-kun. I came back to get a rope." He stated.

"What's th' rope for?" Hattori asked suspiciously, arms crossed and leaning against the door frame. He was going to get him killed. Kaito let out a sigh and resigned himself to his fate.

"Yagami fell into an underground cave and Conan-kun jumped after him. They're both okay-" Relatively speaking- "They just need some help getting out."

"Shinichi!" Ran rounded on him-clearly not okay with this development. "This is why you shouldn't have brought Conan-kun with you! Are you sure he's okay?" Kaito backed up, eying the regional karate champion closely-he did not feel like finding out first hand how she won that title.

"He insisted that he was." He answered honestly. "Can I get that rope?"

"There should be one out by the hot spring." Hoga emerged from the other room. Hattori didn't waste time and dashed out to get it. "They must have fallen into the abandoned mine-the ground above it is really unstable these days-there are signs all over the mountain."

"Oh! That's the Mine we filmed our monster movie in!" Kaneko stated. That was certainly a coincidence.

"I can't find th' rope." Hattori had burst back into the room, nearly out of breath. Great. Kaito thought sarcastically. If it was a mine though, there should at least be an exit although, he didn't much like the idea of the little detective walking in his current condition. He let out a sigh and pulled out Shinichi's phone again before dialing Conan back.

"What?" Came the ungrateful voice-the breathing was still shallow.

"Sorry Conan-kun, we can't find the rope. You may have to find an exit on your own." He didn't want it to come to that but if they didn't have a rope then they'd be stuck there all night until someone could get one from the store at the bottom of the mountain tomorrow. Although it was possible the police would have something. Whenever they turned up.

"Can't _find_ the rope? It's missing?" Kudou asked.

"Yeah, at least that's what Hattori said." Kaito informed him. He could hear the irritated sigh and resulting painful wince right before the detective hung up on him.

oooOOOooo

Light watched as Shinichi only took in shallow breaths and was still somehow on his feet. He had to be in a lot of pain. What was with this kid? He'd not only save Light's life but put his own in danger in the process. Light didn't weigh that much but he knew he weighed enough that he could have crushed Conan. The fall, at the very least, could have broken his back. At least he knew that hadn't happened since there was no way Conan would be up and moving around if he did have a broken back.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Conan asked him, keeping his light pointed to the ground.

"I feel like I should be asking you that. Your breathing is shallow." Light said pointedly. Conan didn't seem remotely concerned and brushed it off.

"As I said-I'll live." He stated. "It looks like this cave goes on for quite a ways, feel up to exploring?" Light looked in the direction of the black abyss-he wasn't too excited about exploring any further and even then Conan really shouldn't be walking around.

"Conan." Light started, not too sure of the question he was about to ask. The smaller watched him expectantly. "If you had let me fall-if you hadn't-" Conan offered him a small smile before cutting off that thought process.

"Don't insult me. I'd never let anyone die if I could help it. Even then I'd give it my all to keep it from happening." Light was forced to remember Haibara's words that first night he'd met her.

 _"Probably, but that's just how he is-he always believes in the best in people. I probably wouldn't still be here if not for his childish notion that he can save everyone."_

He was starting to see what she'd meant by that. This kid really did believe he could save everyone. Not only did he believe it, he actively tried to accomplish it. Light wasn't sure exactly what to think about that but for now he chose to be grateful as it was only because of that 'childish notion' that he was even alive right now. briefly, he wondered what L would have done in the same situation. Probably would have let him fall.

"I don't think you should be moving around right now." Light voiced, earning an eyeroll from the smaller. So he was allowed to sacrifice his well being for someone but no one was allowed to worry about it? "Kudou-san will be back with rope soon enough-and even if you try to hide it, I can tell you're in pain." Conan sucked in a breath-wincing horribly as he did. Was he trying to prove it wasn't that bad?

"Thanks for the concern, but I can manage." Conan assured him. Ryuk couldn't help but laugh. He'd been useless during this whole situation.

"I think he might be more stubborn than you and L combined." He stated uselessly. It probably wasn't far from true though, and that thought worried Light slightly. He was still concerned about L finding out he was Kira but now he had be concerned about facing off against this kid. He should be encouraging him to move around-make the wound worse. Maybe rupture an organ.

He let out an annoyed sigh-the stupid kid saved his life and now he couldn't help but worry about the resulting injury. It was his fault after all, he could have tried to avoid landing on the boy. What was he thinking? No he couldn't have. He had no control over the fall. There was no point in feeling guilty over it.

"I would prefer waiting on Kudou-san." Light tried again, unimpressed by the bitter look he got in return. Did he not realise that Light was doing this for _his_ well being? So he wouldn't hurt himself worse? Conan sucked in another breath that obviously caused him pain.

"...Fine." He finally conceded. "We'll give K-Kudou a little bit of time to get back." Why did he stutter over that name? He hadn't shown signs of impaired speech so far, so there had to be a reason he tripped over that name.

"Since there's nothing better to do, why did you drag me all the way out here?" Light chanced asking. Conan hadn't told him why he was being forced to make this trip but he knew the boy had to have some reason for it.

"You seem to be under the impression that all murderers are evil-So I'm introducing you to a murderer from a previous and tragic case." He admitted. Light just gave him a look. He dragged him all the way out here for that? "Haibara seems to think if you met one, you might realise they aren't evil."

"I never said I think all murderers are evil." Light objected. "But, that's really brought me here for?"

"Aa-Because of a misunderstanding and a language barrier he ended up killing two people and attacking a third-Kazuha."

"Hattori-san's childhood friend?" Light questioned. The man had attacked someone that Conan and his friends were personally acquainted with and they still just thought of him as tragic? "He attacked an innocent teenage girl and you're saying he isn't evil?"

"Yes." Conan said firmly. "He was distraught-he thought that the girl he wanted to marry was pressured into suicide by her father-it turned out that when the girl's younger sisters asked him what he thought of her wrote the worde 'Shine' but they didn't know English so they read it as 'Kill yourself."

"That _is_ tragic." Ryuk offered, once again being unhelpful.

"If he regrets his actions then there's nothing I have against him." Light stated. "I've already told you, my concern are those that want to do people harm."

"I don't think it's an easy thing to kill someone-not for anyone." Light fought the urge to roll his eyes-it was as easy as writing a name in a notebook. "I think even you _must_ have had some regrets when you first started."

Admittedly, Light didn't sleep well the first week and he'd lost four and a half kilograms but, he got over it because there was no one else to do what he knew had to be done. Though… if he was being honest with himself-the first two weren't easy-but it got easier.

Their conversation was put on hold when Conan's phone came back to life and Light saw as it looked like he was holding his breath before he answered in. Was the pain getting worse?

"What?" Conan demanded of whoever was on the other line. "Can't _find_ the rope? It's missing?" That didn't sound good. He let out an irritated sigh and winced at the pain he caused himself before hanging up. It seemed they were going to have to venture further into the cave after all.


	30. Attack

((So, not sure this chapter Flows as well.. but in answer to an on going question: No, Conan has not yet met Ryuk, nor does he know about the Shinigami. Haibara didn't tell him and he hasn't yet touched the Death Note. ))

The rope the Lodge owner usually kept out by the spring was missing. That either meant that Hattori didn't know how to look for it or someone had taken it for something. Considering how the events had transpired that night so far, Saguru didn't think it was too much to think that the rope would probably come up in the murder case somehow.

'Kudou' as Kuroba was currently trying to convince the others was his name, had returned not too long ago with the alarming information that Yagami and little Edogawa had fallen into an underground cave that turned out be be an old mine shaft. Little Edogawa had proven himself quite capable in the past, so the news wouldn't have been too concerning. However, Saguru had heard how Kuroba had chosen his words when asked by Mouri Ran if Edogawa was okay-he'd only stated that Edogawa had insisted that he was.

Something had happened. He didn't know what, but he could tell Kuroba was concerned about it-he'd spent a lot of time analyzing everything about the thief and he knew that when Kuroba got upset or worried about something his shoulders would tighten just slightly while the rest of him appeared to be perfectly relaxed.

Saguru couldn't deny being concerned for the little detective, but he was at least able to confirm that the 'Kudou Shinichi' that made the trip out to Tottori was indeed Kuroba Kaito-better known to most as the elusive Kaitou Kid. Of course, he'd known since Kuroba had turned up in train car what he was up too-it was just a bit too much of a coincidence that a day after Saguru had learned that Aoko was going on a trip with Yagami Light and a some friends that Kid announced his latest heist notice.

The moment Kuroba had made himself known his eyes had flickered over to Yagami-the jealousy was almost tangible. There was no reason for Kudou Shinichi to be jealous but there was plenty of reason for Kuroba Kaito to be. Kuroba probably thought he was smooth with how he'd infiltrated their group but he'd made a few mistakes-all of which Saguru had been anticipating.

"Kudou-san, a word?" He requested, tapping Kuroba on the shoulder. Kuroba raised an eyebrow but having no reason to refuse, begrudgingly followed the detective out to the hot spring-that was another thing that had given Kuroba away, Saguru, being the police chief's son happened to know that Kudou had solved a number of particularly violent crimes in his time as a detective so there was no reason for him to be that uncomfortable with a dismemberment case.

"Hakuba-san?" Kuroba tried to look annoyed-that much probably wasn't an act. Now that they were out of earshot of the others Saguru stopped pretending to be fooled by the disguise and fixed the other with an unimpressed look.

"You don't honestly expect me to be fooled by your disguise, do you?" He asked, voice dropping an octave. The resulting look Kuroba dared to give him grated on his nerves more than it probably should have.

"I don't know what you mean Hakuba-san, disguise?" He certainly looked confused. If Kudou Shinichi and Kuroba Kaito had different faces he would have ripped the mask off, but it was highly likely that he wasn't wearing one.

"Stop. I'm not in the mood. You expect me to believe that Kaitou Kid coincidentally has a Heist the same weekend Aoko-kun is off on trip with Yagami-kun? Or that Kudou Shinichi just happened to show up in Tottori even though he'd been missing for the better part of a year?" Saguru demanded. "Don't insult my intelligence."

Kuroba still looked confused-of course he wasn't going to give in that easily. Nothing short of the real Kudou Shinichi turning up would get him to drop the facade.

"I'm afraid I really have no idea what you're talking about. I happened to have another case out this way." He continued the act. It was futile to get him to admit anything and let out a sigh. Kuroba had a very annoying habit of denying obvious facts even when he had his back against the wall and somehow always managed to escape.

"Whatever. I suppose it doesn't matter that much, but I am rather curious as to what happened to little Edogawa-you stated that he insisted he was fine, but you don't believe that-elaborate." He demanded, voice calm and even. He didn't think that Kuroba would let anything happen to the boy-he'd be much more frantic if it were a life or death situation.

"...Yagami... fell on him." Kuroba finally answered after a long moment of silence. "I don't know how bad his injuries are but he wasn't breathing right when I spoke with him over the phone. He was taking in short, little breaths and any deep breathing seemed to cause him pain."

"And you didn't think that was pertinent information? If he has a broken rib he could very well puncture a lung." Saguru explained, keeping calm. It was nothing to worry too much over-Conan had Yagami with him-if it hurt to breathe he probably wouldn't want to move around too much. No reason to be concerned. Still, it was best to let the others in on this since Kuroba didn't see it as important.

He moved passed the thief and back into the room the others were in, Kuroba close behind. He watched as his eyes shot towards the Mouri girl-if he didn't know any better he'd say Kuroba was afraid of her.

"I was just having a chat with Kudou-san." Saguru stated, patting the thief's shoulder as he came nearer. "It seems he neglected to mention that-"

"Yagami fell on Conan." Kuroba quickly blurted out before Saguru could. A look of horror crossed over Ran's face and her hands quickly covered her mouth as the information processed. "He said he's okay but-"

"But what Shinichi?" Ran's voice had a sharp and dangerous edge to it, her hands were curled into tight fists and Saguru could see she was in the perfect position to deploy some form of martial art. Ah, this must have been the reason Kuroba didn't want to tell her. Still, he really should have known better. Kuroba took a step back-no doubt he'd noticed he was in a danger zone.

"-But he's not-he wasn't breathing normally." Ran's eyes narrowed and hastily went on. "I think that during the fall he must have-well..." He took another step back.

"-He must have broken a rib when Light-kun fell on him." Aoko's voice shocked the whole room, all eyes snapping to her. Saguru wasn't too surprised-it was a simple deduction based on the information available. Besides, Aoko might have liked to pretend otherwise but she was far less oblivious than she appeared to be.

"Shinichi!" Ran's attention snapped back to Kuroba. He was probably regretting his disguise choice right about now. Saguru would have been amused by the look on his face if not for the current circumstances. "You told him he'd have to find the exit on his own." Her voice was low and dangerous. The saying might have been 'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned' but the truth was 'Hell hath no fury like maternal instinct.'

oooOOOooo

It hadn't been ten minutes since Conan had hung up on Kudou that Light's own phone sprang to life-nearly startling him. He checked his caller ID and upon seeing the name 'Aoko' flash on the screen, answered it. She must have been worried when she received the news of their fall.

"Light-kun!" Her voice was a bit frantic. "Are you and Conan-kun okay?" Definitely worried. He looked over at Conan and signaled for him to him to stop walking.

"I'm fine." He assured her. "A little bruised but the one that needs medical attention is Conan-kun." He stated. "He's refusing to rest." Conan shot him a glare.

"If his ribs are injured then you probably shouldn't carry him." She was saying. Light didn't want to have to carry him anyway-how did she know-Oh right, Kudou. He'd probably heard Conan's shallow breathing over the phone and made a deduction from there.

"I'll try and keep him from doing anything more than walking-as long as he doesn't bend or jostle his ribs too much, he should be fine." He offered.

"Anyways, the lodge owner said there's an entrance to the mine on the east side of the mountain-Ran-san and others are headed that way now, okay?" She told him. He couldn't help but notice she didn't say 'we're' headed there now. "I'd come too but Kudou-san insisted that someone help Hakuba-kun guard the body."

Oh. "And another detective couldn't handle that?" He inquired. Aoko wasn't really someone he'd think of to ask to guard a crime scene. She was small, often impulsive and he doubted very seriously if she could win in a fight against an actual criminal. What was Kudou thinking?

"Worried?" Ryuk asked.

"It's okay. I don't have to go near the body. I'm just guarding the hall." She assured him. "Take good care of Conan-kun okay? And come back safe!"

"Aoko." He stopped her from hanging up. 'Guarding' the hall. That was the problem. "Be careful, and don't put yourself at risk." He shot a glare at Ryuk. Really, he was only saying that because it'd be expected of him. He wasn't worried.

Much.

"Mm! Bye!" She said cheerily before disconnecting the line. Once she'd gone Light turned back to Conan to see him raising an eyebrow. The expression looked odd on such a young face and Light thought about asking what that look was about but chose not too and opted to just start walking again. He glanced around on occasion-noting that the mine must have run dry as they seemed to have hollowed out the mountain in places. It made him nervous about the idea that part could collapse at any time.

"According to the lodge owner there's an entrance to the mine on the east side of the mountain, the others are going to try to meet us there." He shared the information. Conan stopped and frowned. Was he trying to think of a way to tell which direction was east from their current position?

oooOOOooo

Shinichi shot off a quick text to Kid and took in a quick, shallow breath. His ribs were really starting to bother him. There was a sharp pain with every breath in-he had to keep his breathing light in order to avoid filling his lungs all the way. Every so often though, he had to take in a deep breath or else he probably wouldn't get enough air. The last thing he'd need would be to pass out from lack of oxygen.

He stopped a moment-using his watch light to glance around the mine. He didn't have any survival trick to determine which direction they were headed in but the state of the tunnels would probably help with finding the way out. The miners could have gotten lost if they hadn't worked out a way to lead them back-they'd just have to work out what that was.

He took in a breath, wincing in pain as he did. The faster they could get out of here, the better if only to keep Yagami from shooting him concerned glances. It was progress, he supposed. There was probably a point in which he would have taken advantage of the injury. Then again, it might just because they might need to work together to get out of here. With a cracked rib he couldn't risk bending down to use his shoes as it would risk puncturing his lung since he didn't know how bad the crack was. He'd like to avoid that happening as much as possible.

"It looks like the pain is getting worse." Yagami voiced after they'd walked in silence a good long while and all the walls of the mine were starting to look the same-even to him.

"It's a cracked rib-that's normal." Shinichi shot back, clearly annoyed. Yes, it hurt. However, the more attention that was called to it the more he'd think about it and the more it would hurt. It was best to just try and completely ignore it until he could properly deal with it and take the appropriate amount of painkillers.

He could tell by the look on Yagami's face that he didn't care much for that answer. He probably shouldn't snap at him-Yagami didn't know about how he managed pain after all. He let out a sigh and immediately wished he hadn't. Yagami watched him expectantly.

"Look." Shinichi started. "If I'm not being constantly reminded that I'm in pain I can somewhat ignore it." It was probably not the healthiest way to manage it but it wasn't like he needed to do it constantly-just until he could get himself out of a bad situation.

"So, you're standing by sheer willpower alone?" Yagami asked. Shinichi gave sharp little nod.

"Aa, so I'd appreciate it if you didn't keep asking me about it." He said pointedly. Yagami considered him carefully but finally just sighed in defeat.

"Fine, but don't expect me to carry you if you pass out." He stated smoothly. Shinichi offered him a small smile.

"Of course not. Now, I need a little help with figuring this mine out-the miners must have come up with some way to lead them out but the problem is that-" He gestured with his thumb towards one of the tunnels. "This groove seems a lot newer than the one by you." Yagami turned to see what he was talking about-the scar in the mountain by Shinichi was rougher, darker, and there was still a bit of dust along the side. The one by Yagami was clearly older as it had smoothed over and the scar had faded.

"Someone's been mining recently..." Yagami realised. Shinichi nodded.

"It looks that way. Which is probably why the ground is so unstable up above." He pointed the watchlight up. "Whoever started mining again didn't know what they were doing and the mountain grew weaker-they were mining up in the ceiling so eventually the weight couldn't hold."

"The mine wasn't dry after all." Yagami sighed. "Do you know what they were mining?" Shinichi looked down another tunnel-the fresh scars indicated that they had moved in that direction.

"Not really." He admitted, turning to his phone a moment as Kid finally answered his text. "However, it's probably not a coincidence that someone's been mining here and there just so happened to be a murder nearby-so the resource is likely something with a pretty high market value." He stored the phone away again.

"-Something worth killing over?" Yagami asked. Shinichi made a face. He wouldn't say that it was worth killing over. Although, someone obviously thought that it was.

"Probably gold. Or possibly silver."

"That doesn't explain why the murderer would hack up Shunji-san." Light pointed out. He had a point-to cut someone into pieces-to dismember someone, there had to be a deep seed of hatred for that. And what was the point of catapulting the body like that? "At least we know the lodge owner didn't do it."

"What makes you think that?" Shinichi shot a look his way-regretting that he'd twisted to face him.

"She asked Hattori-san to investigate those logs, didn't she?" Yagami pointed out, now sounding a bit unsure of the words leaving his mouth. He might have been smart and he might have helped the police with a few insurance fraud cases but he still seemed to think the least suspicious one couldn't possibly be the culprit. This did not bode well. He was going to have to teach him the art of deductive reasoning.

"She'd have the best opportunity and she lives here so she has plenty of access to the mine-but the most damning evidence-" Shinichi Paused. "-How did she know we fell into the mine? We didn't even know it was a mine until we looked around. K-" Shinichi took in a breath of air to hide the fact he'd tripped over the name again. Maybe he owed Hattori an apology. "-Kudou said that he described it as we fell into an underground cave and we didn't tell her where we were going when we left. So how could she have known?"

"So you think it was the lodge owner?" Yagami asked, for once not just sounding bored. It seemed the case had his full attention. Maybe he could convince him to be a detective rather than mass murderer.

"Maybe. The only thing we know for sure is that she knew about the mine. That doesn't necessarily mean that she's the murderer-it's possible she's an intended victim." Shinichi said thoughtfully.

oooOOOooo

Kuroba probably thought that by leaving him him alone with Aoko that he'd throw off Saguru's suspicion that he was Kid. Unfortunately for him, it had the exact opposite effect-for one they weren't really alone as the suspects were still in the house, and two Saguru was too much of a gentleman to make any kind of move on Aoko while she was dating Yagami. The only reason he'd left them to keep an eye on things was so purely to keep Aoko away from him.

He watched as she finished up her brief conversation with Yagami-from what he could hear from his side he wasn't too thrilled with the fact Aoko had been asked to help guard the body-Saguru couldn't help but agree-Kuroba hadn't thought this through. Yes, it kept Aoko away from Yagami but it also put her in some amount of danger.

"Are you sure you want to be part of this Aoko-kun?" Saguru chanced asking, handing her a mop just in case. He'd seen what she could do with it as a weapon and he wanted to ensure she could defend herself if need be. "I can handle watching the hallway on my own." Aoko shook her head-he should have expected that.

"It okay! I want to help." She stated firmly, setting the mop head on the floor and resting her hands and chin on the handle. "But-don't you think it's kind of weird that Hoga-san knew that Light-kun and Conan-kun fell into a mine? All Kudou-san said was that they fell into a cave." It was something that was bothering Saguru as well-from the information given he supposed she might have known there was a mine in the area but since they hadn't really told anyone where they were going to was a bit suspicious.

"Yes, I do. However, I'm not sure she's the murderer based only on that." Saguru offered. Aoko appeared to be thinking about it and he offered her a small smile. "She's the one that told Hattori-kun where the rope should have been-it's possible the two incidents are unrelated. However, I doubt it."

Aoko just let out a sigh and looked back at the door leading out to the hot spring. He'd have to keep her from looking at the body-something like that would probably be too much for her delicate heart. Although, he couldn't help but wonder if she could solve the murder. He was about to ask her a question but was cut off by a sudden loud crash in the other room. Saguru glanced briefly back at Aoko before rushing to see what it was. She'd be okay, anyone trying to get to that part of the Lodge would have to pass by him first.

The room was empty-it didn't seem like anything was out of place. So then what was that crash? He ventured a little further into the lodge. He made it into the main sitting room and noticed immediately the glass coffee table had been shattered by the decorative vase that sat on it. More than that-the missing rope had been tied to it. He picked up the end of the rope-burned. This was timed device of some sort-

"KYAA!"

"Aoko!" His blood ran cold as he heard her scream. That crash was meant as a distraction! He turned as quickly as he could and ran back to the room he'd left Aoko in. He was going to rip Kuroba a new one if anything happened to her. "Aoko! Are you okay?" He rounded the corner and came to abrupt stop.

oooOOOooo

It didn't take long for the others to reach the east side entrance to the mine. The only problem was that it seemed to have been boarded up. Of course, that wouldn't be that much of a deterrent-those boards were between Ran and an injured Conan, and Ran just so happened to hold the title of regional karate champion.

Those boards were going down.

She summoned up her strength, taking the appropriate stance before kicking the boards in. They snapped like twigs from her strength and she made quick work of the remaining pieces, giving them all a way into the mine.

"Way to go Ran-chan!" Kazuha cheered happily. Heiji moved over the to boards to inspect them carefully, picking one up with the handkerchief and turning it over. What he thought he'd get from it, Ran didn't know. She took a breath before she turned to the mine-it was dark and foreboding but Conan was in there somewhere. Keeping her phone on flashlight mode she ventured further in. It didn't seem that Conan or Light had made it to the entrance yet. She tried not to worry about it too much-they were here somewhere and hopefully Light would keep Conan from pushing himself too hard.

"We should probably avoid splitting up." Shinichi advised. Ran didn't respond as she was still unhappy with him for not telling them immediately that Conan had been injured. Conan might have said he was fine but he knew better! Shinichi knew that Conan was a magnet for trouble and frequently got himself injured. She tried not to think about it too much or else she'd just get mad all over again and pressed on through the mine.

It was somewhat damp and the way their footsteps echoed had Ran's nerves on edge but she had to find Conan. She moved the light she was holding to get a good look at the walls-there were dark grooves in the sides and a pick-axe leaning against the wall. It didn't look that old for an abandoned mine.

"Looks like someone's been minin' recently." Heiji spoke up, shining his own light on on the walls. "Some o' these grooves are new." He stated, moving over one and running his finger over it. "Bet that's not a coincidence."

"Unlikely." Shinichi agreed. "But we should find our missing party members first."

"Yeah." Heiji agreed gruffly before continuing on. "Well Ki-Kudou-you're the one that saw'em fall. Do you know where that was in relation to th' entrance?"

"We need to keep right. Unless Yagami-san and Conan-kun have gone off to explore on their own. Which is most likely the case." Shinichi voiced. He was probably right-not much deterred Conan-it was why she was constantly worrying about him.

"Yeah, chances are tha' Ku-Conan-kun probably talked Yagami inta explorin' with him. it's just th' kind a thing he'd do."

"KYAAA!" Kazuha's scream shot right through Ran and she spun to see what had startled her friend. Kazuha's hand was shaking as she pointed it at the ground where a human arm was lying. Ran swallowed hard, instinctively moving towards Shinichi. Was that why the mine had been boarded up?

"I guess we know where th' missing arm is now." Heiji stated, moving over to it and squatting down to inspect it.

"M-missing arm?" Ran asked. Shinichi nodded solemnly.

"Yeah, the body was missing an arm and part of the leg. We thought it best not to reveal the condition of the body." He stated. "I suppose this is where the murder took place then." He moved his light up the wall a little more to reveal a large, ugly splotch of red.

oooOOOooo

Light was getting tired of watching Conan wince every time he took in a breath. It was annoying and somehow the other insisted that he was fine. They'd been wandering around the accursed mine for what seemed like hours though it couldn't have been that long since they fell. He jerked as he heard something breaking off in the distance-there wasn't another cave in was there? Conan made the mistake of twisting at the noise and hissed in pain.

"What was that?" He asked. Conan seemed to be regaining his composure and listening closely. Was that the others? Were they near the entrance after all?

"Yagami." Conan's voice pulled his attention towards him. "Can you get that?" He gestured to something on the floor-it looked like a picture? He moved over to the smaller, bending down to pick up the photograph. He flipped it over and noted that three of the four faces looked familiar-Shunji, The lodge owner, and Fuwa-san before he passed it to Conan. Was the other the deceased writer?

He was yanked out of his thoughts as a loud scream broke out. Conan didn't waste any time in darting in that direction-probably causing more damage to his ribs.

"Kazuha-neechan!" He cried out, picking up his pace. So Conan had recognised the scream. He rounded the corner quickly and came to an abrupt stop so Light had to catch himself before he tripped over him and caused more damage.

"Conan-kun!" Ran exclaimed happily, dropping down to his level to get a look at him and make sure he was okay. "Let me see your ribs." She demanded. Conan's face turned bright red but he didn't stop Ran from lifting his shirt to gently inspect the damage that had been done in the fall.

"Yagami-kun, you're not injured are you?" She asked as she finished with Conan.

"No, I'm a little bruised-but nothing compared to Conan-kun." Light stated. "I was told that Aoko-chan is still at the lodge-Kudou-san seemed to think she should stay and help Hakuba-san guard the body." He cast a glance over at Kudou. "With a murderer."

"Hakuba-san wouldn't let anything happen to her." Kudou waved it off. "She'll be fine."

"Don' worry about it too much." Hattori cut in. "'Cause I've already got a good idea who the murderer is, right Conan-kun?" He turned to the smaller detective. "Unless I missed my guess the murderer is-" But he was cut off from the reveal as Kudou's phone sprang to life and he answered it quickly.

"What?!" Kudou suddenly demanded. "What do you mean a situation?" That didn't sound good.

"Well is she okay?" She? Light's eyes narrowed. He took in a breath and moved over to take the phone from the detective, ignoring Ryuk's comment about him being worried. Maybe he was just a little.

"This is Light." He stated, hoping to hear Aoko's voice on the other line. It was possible-she wasn't the only girl there.

"Yagami-san?" It was Hakuba. Light felt his temper starting to rise. "Fuwa-san tried to use Aoko-kun as a hostage." tried?

"Is she alright?" He pressed. Hakuba had the nerve to laugh and Light's hands tightened on the phone.

"She's fine-I'm not sure about Fuwa-san though. He learned the hard way just how gifted Aoko-kun is at wielding a mop. She's had plenty of practice against Kuroba-kun." Light thought back to the first time he'd heard her complaining about Kuroba flipping her skirt-was that her way of getting even?

"I suppose this means that Fuwa-san is the murderer?" Light asked, turning to Hattori who nodded. He glanced down at Conan who was glaring fiercely at him-the look on his face clearly telling him he was not allowed to kill the man. Knowing Conan, he'd probably fix it so he couldn't kill the man without exposing himself-Something like asking the police to write the name wrong on purpose.

At least the could leave the mine. Thankfully, it didn't take too long to get back to the lodge-Conan was deposited on the couch and given an ice pack. Light, in the meantime, moved straight to Aoko, looking her over for signs of injury. She seemed to be just fine.

"Are you alright Aoko-chan?" He asked anyway, glancing down at the man Hakuba had no doubt tied up and the broken mop off to the side. She had hit him hard. Good. He deserved it.

"I'm fine." She smiled brightly. "But, I could ask the same of you." She stated, giving him a concerned look. "That's a pretty nasty bruise." She pointed to his arm. He brought it up, pushing a few strands of hair out her face and leaving his hand on her cheek.

"Don't worry about it-I'm just glad you're safe. Don't do reckless things, okay?" He pressed a kiss to her lips and she turned bright red at the same time felt a surge of jealousy almost like Kuroba was in the vicinity-Had it come from Hakuba? Although he seemed to have at least been supportive of his relationship with Aoko.

"L-Light-kun!" She gently pushed him off after kissing him back once. "There are-"

"People around. I know, but I was worried." He let his hand fall and watched as her face got redder. He turned to the others-all of their faces were red aside from Hakuba. What was with this group? Had they never seen a kiss before?

"Ahem." Kudou cleared his throat loudly. "I believe something needs to be done about Fuwa-san." His voice sounded somewhat clipped. What was he annoyed about?


	31. Lesson

((AN: So here is a new chapter. Just as a heads up though, I'm going to be revamping a few things. Now that I've gotten it up to so many chapters I'm starting to think I'll work better as a series. This means that I'll be taking a few things apart and possibly adding some new things to the the earlier chapter. ))

"You want to teach me what?" Yagami asked, looking down at Shinichi incredulously. Shinichi rolled his eyes-not wanting to repeat himself.

"The art of deduction." His tone was just a bit clipped. "You still seem to think that the least suspicious person can't be the suspect. So, I think that if you learn how to properly draw observations and deductions it'll help with your... situation." Not getting exposed as the mass murderer, Kira. "Besides, I can't have you helping me with Them if you can't think like a detective. It's dangerous and you could get killed."

Yagami sighed, rubbing at his temples as he considered the other's words. Shinichi just watched him expectantly from his spot on the train back to Tokyo. Thanks to the murder case (Fuwa had killed Shunji because he'd thought that the writer had been murdered by him. As it turned out it was actually suicide.) and Shinichi's broken rib, they hadn't been able to pay Robert Taylor a visit and had to pay a visit to the hospital instead. Shinichi had been given the appropriate amount of painkillers for his small body and he was feeling much better-namely he wasn't feeling much of anything.

"You say it's dangerous, but if I get caught then I would certainly face the death penalty-what I've been doing has been dangerous from the start." Yagami said calmly. "There's no need to be concerned by it now."

"You still don't get it, do you?" Shinichi asked, annoyance clear in his voice. "It's not just your life on the line anymore. It's everyone's-your entire family and your friends. They will annihilate you-wipe every last little trace of you off the planet." Yagami's eyes narrowed, obviously not thrilled with this news. Shinichi didn't care though-he'd told him from the beginning that the organisation was dangerous. It wasn't his fault if he didn't realise just how dangerous.

"You don't trust me and yet you dragged me into this?" Yagami asked, Shinichi gritted his teeth.

"I didn't drag you into anything. You're the one that kicked the hornet's nest when you killed the head of the arson department." He pointed out. "So now you're part of this war whether you like it or not." Shinichi took in a calming breath-glad for the painkillers numbing the pain in his ribs.

"How was I supposed to know-"

"-It doesn't matter. You killed him. If you had never-" He sucked in another breath-temper bubbling as Yagami childishly tried to defend his actions. "No. There's no point in playing the blame game. What's done is done."

"Yo!" Hattori pulled the private compartment door open-noting the somewhat tense atmosphere. He glanced over at Shinichi who just shrugged. Hattori might have known that Yagami was Kira but Yagami didn't know that Hattori knew and he wasn't about to risk Hattori's life like that. Agasa was bad enough but Hattori was a famous detective and Yagami would undoubtedly retaliate against him. Thankfully, Hattori could come off as kind of an idiot and was easily underestimated.

"Hattori-san." Yagami bowed his head as the Osakan sat down next to Shinichi.

"You two've been holed up here th' whole train ride." He stated. "Anythin' interestin' goin' on?" He asked. Shinichi shook his head.

"I was just wanting to help Yagami with learning how to observe and deduce." Yagami rolled his eyes-no doubt he thought his detective skills were fine. Perhaps they were, but the needed polishing and more use than what they got.

"Why?"

"Because he's smart enough-he'd probably be really good at it." Shinichi shot him a look. Yagami sighed.

"And how exactly do you go about teaching that sort of thing?" He asked.

"Well.. I guess ya could say it's kinda like a muscle? Though once ya start ya can't really stop

it-ya start noticin' everythin' around ya. Right Conan?" Hattori turned to the smaller that nodded.

"You proved on the loop line the first time we met that your observation skills are already above average-let us help you polish them." Shinichi encouraged. "It's really easy once you get the hang of it."

"I get the feeling I'm not allowed to say no." Yagami stated, sounding bored.

"Not with Conan askin' ya." Hattori grinned. "So let's go to the diner car an' play deductions." He stood up and helped Shinichi down from his seat. Yagami got up and followed after them.

The diner car was full of people and the detectives located a booth running along the side the car facing in. Hakuba had joined them once Hattori realised he couldn't just shake him off. The rules were simple-one of the others would find someone and then challenge someone to deduce what they could about the chosen person-if done correctly the observations should support the deductions.

This would also give Shinichi some insight in how Yagami read people-it was obvious that he could-Shinichi just needed to know how. Did he read the atmosphere, watch body language or just pay attention to social cues?

"That one. The woman getting coffee at the counter." Shinichi stated. "Heiji-niichan." He couldn't ask Yagami right off-he'd need an example of how it was done and didn't know if Hakuba had ever played this game.

"I'm goin' first then?" Hattori cast a look down at the smaller who just offered a nod. "Alrigh' let's see." He studied the woman closely. "She's tan from tannin' beds. Not very athletic since her muscles ain't that well defined. Clothes conscious-someone that obsessed with their clothes probably works in the media. She's obviously waitin' on some kinda call since she keeps lookin' at her phone." Hattori observed. "And she seems t' be real inta that guy behind th' counter despite th' fact she's married-though I'd guess unhappily. She's mid thirties-does pretty well for herself and recently had her nails done. Anythin' ta add?"

Shinichi took a long hard look at the woman, eyes following the path Hattori had to have to come up with the deductions he'd offered. Everything seemed in order-there was probably more they could tell up close though. He nodded in approval.

"Alright then, next is Hakuba-han." Hattori flashed him a mischievous grin. "That man ta the left with th' briefcase." Hakuba just sighed and looked over to the man in question.

"Middle-aged. Gambling addict." He stated simply. "He has a newspaper with the horse race winnings, a slight nervous tremor and several other newspapers all detailing some form of sport. He has a slight discoloration in the skin and I'd say he's recently lost a fair amount of weight by how his coat and clothes don't quite fit. He's also running a poker chip through his knuckles." The man looked up from his newspaper and glanced around nervously. "Bit paranoid it would seem-probably owes someone money."

'Bit paranoid' was a bit of an understatement in Shinichi's book. Every few minutes he'd look up and look around nervously like he was afraid of something-he should probably keep an eye on that.

"-Peanut allergy." Hakuba finished. "So Edogawa-kun, your turn. "The man that the media woman was talking too." Shinichi's eyes shot over in that direction again-there wasn't much to be told with him standing behind a bar but there were a few things.

"He's recently had a haircut a few days ago. Unmarried-around university age-he has an ear pierced but that's likely against the train's dress code so he can't wear it at work. He's a new hire because he keeps losing track of where things are and takes a bit longer than a normal cashier would at the till to count money. Non-smoker and owns some form of small pet. He tried to get the pet hair off with a lint roller but he missed a spot-so probably not the most attentive" Shinichi revealed in his signature 'Conan' voice. "So then, Light-niichan-um... how about the man on the other side of the dining car in the adjacent booth?"

oooOOOooo

Light let out a sigh as it was now his turn. He didn't want to do this as he was sure the others would leave him in the dust. The first time he'd done this with Conan he'd 'missed everything important' and he wasn't something he wanted to repeat-especially not in front of two other detectives.

"Go on Light." Ryuk encouraged, not bothering to hide the amused look on his face. Was humiliating him part of teaching him the 'Art of Deduction' as Conan had called it? He took in a breath and looked at the man Conan had indicated carefully-Overweight. Middle aged. Glasses. Married-the small children next to him were probably his. They were all surface level deductions-they'd never pass this test. He closed his eyes to calm his irritation and to refocus-if they could all three do it then he could do it too. Hattori said it was like a muscle-it had to be exercised. There had to be more about the man that he could deduce.

He opened his eyes again and took a closer look at the man in question. This time he noticed the slight wet stains up by the neck and at the sleeve of his shirt-he sweated a lot. He also noticed the wedding the finger with the wedding ring had grown around the ring-he'd been married some time ago. He didn't just have glasses-but bifocals. The frame looked a bit cheap so the man probably didn't make much. He watched him say something to one of the children-gripping the child's arm and pulling him close-at least one of the children was definitely his. There was a slight tremor in the left hand-just barely noticeable. He could do this.

"The man suffers from over eating-he's on the train with his two children. He was married some time ago and in that time put on a lot of weight. His vision is heavily impaired as he has a pair of bifocals. He also has a problem of sweating too much-the wet stains on the collar are proof. And he has early onset Parkinson's disease." He deduced, waiting for the others to point out what he'd missed.

"Correct!" Conan chirped-Hattori may have been aware of Conan's identity but it didn't seem Hakuba was as Conan was undoubtedly putting on the act for him. Wait-he just said correct. He didn't have anything to add?

"Sad abou' th' Parkinson's though." Hattori sighed. "Not bad fer yer first try. Eventually you'll be able to observe things without realizin' yer doin' it."

"Yes, I certainly agree and it's not often that Hattori-kun and I agree on anything." Hakuba offered. Hattori scoffed. Light just looked back at the man-had he missed anything?

"That can't be everything." He voiced. Conan and Hattori looked to one another and then shook their head.

"Well, of course there's more that could be deduced-but don't sell yourself short-"

"-Conan-kun is already short enough." Hattori snuck in with a slight laugh. He shot a quick glare at Hattori.

"-Remember, you're observing from a distance so there's only so much you can pick up on." He explained. "If we were closer you could probably tell other things about him-but it's a good start."

"I gotta warn ya though, the life of a detective is addictin' there's nothin' quite like the feelin' ya get from solvin' a case." Hattori stated, slouching in his seat. Light couldn't help but notice the look contempt on Hakuba's face as he did.

"And how often do you play this game?" He chanced asking. Hattori and Conan looked at one another.

"Anytime we happen t' be around each other, really. There is one version o' the game that Conan's just no good at." He grinned at the smaller who glared, a blush blooming across his cheeks. It seemed impossible that there was something that this kid just wasn't good at.

"And that is?" Light asked curiously.

"He's not good at the personality and emotion aspect of his cases." Hattori sighed. "When we go to the beach we play a game of deducin' what kinda swimsuit people are wearin' before they get out o' th' water. He's more suited fer fact an' logic."

"I am a brain, Watson. The rest of me is a mere appendix" Conan responded with a Sherlock Holmes quote. So he really was that big of a fan of Holmes-no wonder it hadn't seemed like he was acting.

"Who you callin' Watson?" Hattori demanded.

"Don't worry about it Watson-kun." Conan just smirked.

"If anyone's the assistant here, it's you." Hattori grumbled.

How much longer did he have to be on the train with these people?

oooOOOooo

The train ride was coming to a close-Hattori and Kazuha had gotten off at Shin-Osaka station and there was just an hour left before they reached Tokyo. Saguru left the others in the dining car and found Aoko sitting in the compartment alone, staring at the window.

"Aoko-kun?" He caught her attention, hurricane blue eyes snapping up meet his. He offered her a small smile.

"Is everything okay?" He chanced asking. Aoko turned back to the window and just sighed, scooting over to indicate he could sit with her. He did, keeping a respectable distance.

"I've been thinking..." She admitted, not sounding too sure of her own words. Saguru stayed silent as he waited for her to continue. "...About Kaito." She confessed. Oh, that was... unexpected. "...About how he's not always very nice."

"I see." Saguru said calmly, watching her carefully. "You certainly know him better than I do, but is anyone ever always nice?"

"You've never been mean to me." Aoko pointed out. Saguru let out a soft chuckle.

"Not to you-but I'm sure Kuroba-kun would never attest to my being nice-It's all a matter of perspective, really." He paused, still watching her-something was really bothering her-she was abnormally quiet. "...However, if you're talking in regards to how he treats you then I must admit, I have often been concerned about that myself."

"Eh?" He gaze snapped up to meet his again, she looked lost-like she was struggling with some new information she'd only just now discovered and had no idea how to handle it.

"But... it's not like Aoko is always nice to Kaito." She defended her best friend. That might have been true but Kuroba could be downright cruel at times and then there was the matter of the skirt flipping. Anything Aoko had done to him would easily pale in comparrsion.

"...Aoko." He said seriously. "I want you to tell me honestly, have you ever once told Kuroba that he was unattractive?"

"No, but he's not-" She stopped talking as soon as Saguru's hand came up to silence her.

"That, Aoko-kun, is exactly the problem I have with his behaviour towards you." He stated smoothly. Not to mention all the lying he'd been doing. He was hurting her in ways she wasn't even aware of and of course he took issue with that. She deserved so much better.

"How do you-?"

"Did you mean to say that you've just never told him he's unattractive or that you've never said it because it's not true?" He asked as she fell silent. If she hadn't said it because it wasn't true then that insinuated she thought it was true when Kaito said it. "...It's not true when he says it either."

Aoko swallowed, her cheeks turning a bit pink and she looked out the window. He probably shouldn't be so forward since she had a boyfriend but at the same time he had no intention of doing more than compliment her.

"...In the time that you've been dating Yagami-san, has he once made you upset or uncomfortable?" Saguru gently pressed. Aoko was quiet, no doubt thinking about it.

"Um... well, he makes me blush a lot, I guess." Which was uncomfortable but not in the same way Kaito could upset her. "...And he knows I don't like-um-not in front of other people."

"Kissing?" Saguru said the word so bluntly and her cheeks immediately turned red as she nodded. "I think that night was a special exception-he was worried. He seems to really care about you. "

"...Light-kun thinks that Kaito doesn't-" She paused, the word dying on her lips and leaving Saguru to decipher what she had meant. That he didn't care about her? That was obviously not true-she was probably the person he cared about the most.

"Doesn't what?" He probed.

"...Respect... me..." She said sadly. "He seems to think if he did that Kaito wouldn't still be flipping my skirt." Saguru's breath caught for a moment and then he let out a sigh.

"I don't think it has anything to do with respect, Aoko-kun. I think he's just immature." He offered. She nodded slowly. Was that what she'd been sitting in here thinking about? Saguru hadn't really thought about it-it was obvious to him that the magician was completely smitten with Aoko. However, it was a fact that Kuroba had that habit of flipping her skirt despite that she'd told him to stop several times in several different ways that begger the question, if he tried push her and she said stop-would he?

"He doesn't mean any harm, right? He's just an idiot?" She asked. Saguru couldn't help but smile slightly.

"Yes. I'm afraid that's exactly it." He confirmed. "Although, if he ever advances from skirt flipping then I want you to tell me."

"Um..." She shifted awkwardly. Saguru's eyes narrowed-had Kuroba advanced from skirt flipping?

"Aoko-kun, what did he do?" He pressed seriously. She looked startled by the serious tone but this conversation had just gotten very serious.

"Um... I don't know if you'd call it an advancement-but he has... grabbed.. before." She said uncertainly, cheeks going red. Saguru was suddenly overcome with the urge to hunt down the thief (he had to be somewhere on the train) and demand they have a conversation. He had to wait though-even if he did find Kuroba there was no way he'd admit to being Kuroba while in disguise.

"I would call that an advancement. I'll have a word with him once we get back. Aoko-kun-I'm sorry but Yagami-san might be right after all."

"Eh?"

"Right about what?" Yagami's voice sounded behind them and Saguru's eyes shot to Aoko. "Are you okay, Aoko-chan?"

"She's fine. Just-a little motion sick." Saguru invented, seeing the pleading look in Aoko's eyes. Yagami raised an eyebrow as he moved over to wrap his arm around her shoulder. Saguru could tell by the look on his face that he wasn't convinced.

oooOOOoooo

Time was rapidly melting away. His original six months had somehow dwindled into two-three if he was lucky and he had until the end of May. Vermouth had never clarified on that. She hadn't bothered to get in contact with him since that day at the parking garage but he had a feeling he'd see her again as soon as she'd realised the Kira killings had stopped.

That was one good thing about all this, he supposed-He'd finally convinced Yagami not to kill anyone else. At the very least, it would slow the investigation. He let out a deep sigh as he flipped through the latest Samonji book.

"It seems not even Detective Samonji can cheer you up." Haibara interrupted his silent brooding-it wasn't like he was actually reading anyway.

"Aa." He responded. "Yagami's kept his word, but I'm still running out of time." He scratched at his head and didn't notice the herd of seven year olds that suddenly ambushed his desk.

"Conan!" Genta exclaimed. "You went against Kaitou Kid without us again!" He accused. Shinichi closed his book and turned to face the others.

"I couldn't help it-I got a special invite from Jirokichi-ojisan. And besides, Kid was only there for the challenge-so he didn't even steal anything." He offered, it didn't seem to satisfy them at all.

"Edogawa-kun probably didn't want you to know it took him so long to figure out who Kid was disguised as." Haibara stated. "Even though it was the professor." Shinichi glared at her.

"Eh!?" The children voiced at the same time, causing Conan to wince at their shrill voices.

"How come you didn't realise it sooner?" Genta demanded.

"He bent his knees to seem shorter, that's why." Shinichi supplied, tone bored.

"As expected of the Kaitou Kid!" Mitsuhiko said happily. Shinichi just rolled his eyes. Kids today, impressed with criminals.

"Well, the real professor had been tied up, knocked out by a stun gun and left in the bathroom." Haibara shrugged. "Kid even mimicked the professor's voice to perfection."

"That's so cool! I hope that Kid will disguise as me one day." Mitsuhiko voiced.

"Ayumi too!"

"Me too!" Genta agreed. Shinichi raised an eyebrow at that last one.

"Genta, he already disguised as you once." He pointed out.

"Okay kids! Back to your seats!" Class 1A's teacher, Kobayashi Sumiko stepped into the room. "I'm going to introduce you to a new teacher!" The children's eyes shot over to the door where a timid looking woman with long dark hair and glasses was standing. She heard Kobayashi start to give her introduction and stepped up to the podium. "From this day on she's going to be the deputy homeroom teacher-Wakasa-sensei."

"Er-I'm Wakasa Rumi-" The woman began nervously. "I'm ten years older than Kobayashi-sensei." Wakasa bowed her head deeply and smacked it hard into the podium-gaining a few giggles from the class.

"A new teacher at this time is strange." Shinichi commented, watching the woman closely. Haibara just yawned.

"We've had a lot of transfer students like us coming in this year and the number increased, that's probably why." She stated.

"Hm, I see." Shinichi responded, deciding that it probably made sense.

oooOOOooo

Shinichi didn't make it back to the agency until late that night. Things had gotten very quickly out of control and when he'd made it back home he immediately crashed on his futon. When he woke up he he became immediately aware of a splitting pain in his head and he rolled over to stare at the clock. It was nearing seven in the morning and he pulled the pillow over his head to block out Kogoro's snoring.

Thankfully, it was a weekend and he didn't have to worry about going to school. Unfortunately, he did have to worry about the plans Ran, Sonoko and Sera had made to go to some thing or another that he really couldn't care less about with his head hurting like it was.

"Good morning Conan-kun!" Ran greeted happily. He cringed and tried to shy away from her overly cheerful voice. "...Conan-kun? Do you feel okay?" She chanced asking, kneeling down by his futon to so she could press her forehead against his, causing his face to go bright red. "You're burning up!"

"Ran-neechan, can I stay here today?" He asked, not bothering to sit up in fear it might make his headache worse. Ran pressed a cool hand to his cheek and frowned as she considered his question.

"I'm sorry Conan-kun, but I'll have to find someone to watch you. There won't be anyone at the agency since dad went out on an adultery case." She informed him. Shinichi took a moment to think about all the people available to look after him while he's sick-the professor was out because he had some convention to go to this weekend. "I'll ask Aoko-chan." Ran said decidedly.

"Aoko-neesan?" Shinichi blinked, apparently she and Ran had really hit it off on that trip. She nodded happily and moved to pull her phone out to call Nakamori's daughter. He didn't really care who he stayed with as long as it was quiet.

In the next few hours Conan had been taken to the Nakamori residence and could be found sleeping on the couch curled under entirely too many blankets with a cold compress on his forehead. Aoko was sitting the room with him, her nose in a book.

Aoko loved kids. They were cute and since she had something of a child-like personality they were loads of fun to be around. Or, they were fun to be around when they were healthy. She glanced over at the sleeping Conan and frowned in concern. She didn't know the Kid Killer very well, but he always seemed to be brimming with energy and to see him so out of it really rubbed her the wrong way.

An insistent ringing came for her doorbell and she sighed, putting the book to the side and getting up to answer the door before the idiot woke up Conan-kun. She yanked the door open and fixed the magician on the other side with a look.

"I haven't done anything yet!" Kaito objected. Aoko just sighed, pulling the door open a little more to let him in. He moved straight for the kitchen as he usually did as the only thing in his house was an alarming pile of junk food.

"Aoko will make you breakfast, but you have to be quiet." She told him, pressing a finger to her lips. "Conan-kun is sleeping in the living room." Kaito seemed to freeze as he processed that information.

"Conan? You mean that kid that the media deemed the Kid Killer?" He asked, pulling her fridge open to get something to drink. "What's he doing here?"

"Aoko is watching him! He's sick so he needs his rest." She said cheerily, moving over the cabinets so she could set about making Kaito breakfast.

"Sick?" Kaito looked towards the living room where there was a visible lump on the couch. "And they left him with you?"

"What's that supposed to mean? Aoko can take care of a sick kid! She takes care of Kaito when he's sick." She said indignantly. Kaito just laughed.

"Nothing, just that I didn't realise you were close with his guardians." He waved it off. Aoko huffed and went back to making an omelette. "And don't worry, I'll let him sleep."

"You'd better." She threatened. Kaito rolled his eyes and then looked over at the eggs she'd pulled out. On omelette would go to Conan, one for Aoko, one to himself but it seemed like she was planning on making and extra.

"Your dad going to be joining us?" He chanced asking, looking over at the clock. Aoko shook her head.

"He had to go into work early this morning-Kid sent in a notice yesterday so he has paperwork and warrants to obtain." She explained.

"The who's the extra omelette for?" As if on cue the doorbell chimed. "Don't tell me you invited Yagami for breakfast." He grouched as he moved over to get the door.

"Of course I did! Today's his birthday!" Aoko rolled her eyes at the same time Kaito rolled his. "You better be nice!" Aoko called out to him. Kaito grumbled something under his breath and yanked the front door open. There was a brief look of surprise on Yagami's face but he recovered quickly and moved passed the magician.

"Goodmorning Yagami-kun." Kaito grumbled at him. Yagami just nodded. "Happy birthday."

"Thank you, Kuroba-kun." Yagami responded before heading into the kitchen and over to where he knew Aoko was.

"Happy birthday, Light-kun!" Aoko greeted him cheerily, forgetting to keep her voice down.

"Oi!" Kaito interjected before Yagami could respond. "You're the one that told me to keep it down, remember?"

"Oh!" Aoko quickly covered her mouth and looked out to the living room. It didn't seem like she'd woken the brat up. He must have really been out of it. "S-Sorry Light-kun, Ran-san asked me if I could watch Conan-kun for a little bit." She admitted. Yagami's gaze flickered towards the lump on the couch that seemed to be breathing with a slight wheeze.

"Why would you apologise, it's a good thing you're so willing to do favors for your friends." Yagami said smoothly. Aoko smiled and nodded.

"Ran-san said that he woke up not feeling too well so I'm letting him sleep until breakfast ."

"He's sick?" Yagami glanced over in his direction as if he thought that was an impossible concept. Kaito happened to know that when that kid got sick he was like the walking dead. He moved over to the kid to make sure he was still sleeping and noticed a light blinking in his left hand. His phone? He grabbed it quickly while the other two were distracted and stuffed it in his pocket.

"I just realised I forgot my phone, I'm going to run and get it." Kaito gestured to his house next door. Aoko and Yagami looked up at him before she just nodded before returning her attention to that bastard he knew the detective didn't trust.

He slid out of the house and moved over to his, pulling out the detective's phone as he did. He typed in the passcode as he remembered it-apparently the detective hadn't changed it yet as it let him in easy. Kaito smirked and took the phone up to his room and into the secret room to check the few missed voicemails the kid had.

 _"Shinichi! Please call me back as soon as you get this! Someone died on the train!"_ Ran's frantic voice was voice mail message number one.

 _"Oi Kudou, Gimme a call back when ya get this."_ Hattori was message number two.

 _"Shinichi! Please answer your phone!"_ Ran again, this time a little more frantic. Kaito cursed under his breath and hunted down Ran's contact information before calling the girl back-she had seemed frantic.

"Yo, Ran!" He started the moment she picked up.


	32. Conversation

After successfully solving a murder case over the phone as Kudou Shinichi, Kaito scanned through Kudou's call log and pulled up the Osakan's number. If that brat had told anyone why he didn't want Yagami to know his real identity then it would be the great detective of the west.

"Yo, Kudou!" Hattori answered almost automatically. Was he just waiting by the phone? Kaito wasn't even sure the phone had rung.

"Aa, Hattori. You called earlier?" He kept his voice in Conan's confident tone.

"Nothin' major. Just wanted ta check in an see how yer doin'" Hattori admitted. Kaito nearly sighed in annoyance. How was he going to get the detective to tell him without the other realising what he was doing. As well as before Conan woke up.

"Really, Hattori? You called just for that?" He did his best irritated little detective impersonation.

"Don't be like that, Kudou. I'm really concerned fer yer health ya know-I know yer under a lot of stress lately." Hattori batted off the annoyance. Kid knew that living under a fake name with a fake identity probably was very stressful for the little detective-but since he'd been doing a while there'd be no reason to check in on him like that.

"That's a bit of an understatement." Kaito scoffed, still in Conan's voice. "But I'll manage."

"Still set on gettin' Yagami ta destroy th' weapon?" Hattori asked. Kaito froze. What weapon? And if Yagami had some sort of weapon than why wasn't the brat telling the police? "I don' know man, I think ya should probably jus' destroy it yerself-you said yerself that ya couldn't let it fall in their hands and I'm sure tha' one lady's gonna notice ya pallin' around with Yagami." Who? What the hell had the brat gotten himself into? Wait. Weapon. Kudou didn't want Yagami to know his real identity. D-Did Kudou suspect that...?

"Aa, I know. But look, I'm kind of busy right now, can I call you back?"

"Aa, sure-wait a minute. This ain't Kudou, is it? And if it ain't Kudou than it's gotta be Kid." Hattori was on to him. What the hell did he do to mess up this time?

"What do you mean? Why would kid just be around to answer my phone?" He asked. He could practically feel the glare on the other side.

"How th' Hell should I know why ya jus' took his phone? But I do know tha' ya ain't Kudou because Kudou always just hangs up-he doesn't ask if he can call back he tells ya he's going to." Hattori reasoned. "So out with it-why've ya got Kudou's phone?"

"As it just so happens, I just solved a murder for our mutual little detective friend. He was far too sick to come to the phone." Kaito swapped to silky smooth tones of the Kaitou Kid.

"Well, aren't you thoughtful." Hattori said sarcastically. "...Is he okay?"

"Yes, It appears to be just a touch of a cold-though it is a nasty cold." He relayed the information. Hattori just sighed.

"Man, that ahoutoxin really fucked 'im up." He muttered.

"Ahoutoxin?" Kaito chanced asking, only to be met with a heavy silence as Hattori was no doubt debating on whether or not to tell him.

"It's-well, the proper name fer it is 'Apotoxin 4869' and it's the reason that he's-It's the poison that turned 'im inta Conan." Hattori finally stated. Kaito's blood ran cold. Poison? The detective was POISONED and it turned him into-"I would've thought you knew about that though-seein' as ya know who he is."

"I don't stalk him, detective. Finding out about his real identity was an accident-I just happened to be tapping the lines of the cruise ship he was on." Kaito quickly explained. "And it's not like we really sit and talk whenever we're around each other."

"Nah, I suppose ya wouldn't." Hattori conceded. "So what was th' real reason ya took his phone?"

"As a detective, isn't it your job to figure things like that out?" Kaito baited, hearing the Osakan grit his teeth on the other line.

"Don't give me that. Ya wanted ta talk ta me specifically, else ya wouldn'a called me on his phone." Hattori stated. Kaito had to begrudgingly admit that he was right.

"He doesn't want Yagami Light to know his real identity-but he won't say why." He confessed, sinking down into the chair that faced his dad's jukebox.

"Is there a reason he should?" Hattori asked. "Kudou keeps a lotta secrets. He's gotta a real problem with withholdin' information. He seems ta think he can protect everyone."

"Yagami is dating Nakamori's daughter. If he's dangerous than I-" Kaito started.

"Nakamori Aoko-han? Th' girl that beat th' shit outta th' guy that tried ta attack her?" Hattori asked, remembering the short girl that knew how to very accurately weaponize a mop. "She ain't in any danger with Yagami. Kudou's got it under control." he waved it off. "Besides, he seemed honestly concerned about her, so I doubt he'd want ta hurt her. You on the other hand-well... even if Kudou is keepin' an eye on things you should probably avoid him."

"...Does he suspect Yagami is Kira?" Kaito asked, already knowing the answer as his insides seemed to have hollowed out.

"He knows Yagami is Kira." The words crashed down on the magician like a heavy weight. Kira? Of all the people in the world that could have pursued Aoko she caught Kira's interest?

Of course she'd have caught his interest, Aoko was the epitome of good and innocent. Not to mention adorable. Not that he'd ever say so out loud. That Hakuba bastard was bad enough but this-this was a mass murderer she was dating. It was a good thing he was already sitting.

"Thank you." He answered numbly.

"Sure. But ya gotta do me a favor." Hattori shrugged.

"Yes?" Kaito asked suspiciously, expecting something like a request that he turn himself in.

"Keep an eye on Kudou. He might not want to admit it, but I'm sure that the pressure's gettin' to him." Hattori stated. Kaito let out an involuntary sigh. He wasn't really expecting that but at the same time he wasn't that surprised. The Osakan detective was good friends with the little one.

"I will do my best, detective. However, it isn't as though I see him on a daily basis." Kaito explained. "How do you expect me to keep an eye on him?"

"Don't give me tha' Ya can' tell me that ya don' have any way ta keep an' eye on things. How else do ya scope out the museums ya rob?"

"You want me to use my surveillance equipment to watch out for your friend?" Kaito raised an eyebrow.

"I could tell 'im ya stole his phone an' see how long it take him ta figure out who ya are." Hattori threatened, causing a shiver to shoot right through Kaito's spine. Was the detective of the west really trying to blackmail him into this?

"Fine, fine. But in exchange, you have to tell me what has you that worried about him." There was a heavy silence on the other end and Kaito could practically hear the Osakan detective considering the pros and cons of telling the thief what he knew. At last, the detective let out a sigh of defeat.

"Alrigh' I'll tell ya. But not over th' phone. Got anywhere we can meet up?" He questioned.

"After my next heist. I'll find you." Kaito offered.

oooOOOooo

Light watched the sleeping lump on the couch he knew to be Conan. He'd seen the boy move about with a broken rib like it was nothing and now he had a cold and was completely knocked flat? It must have been a hell of a cold.

"Kids are so cute!" Aoko said cheerily, watching him a moment herself before going back into the kitchen to prepare the table for breakfast. Deciding that he didn't really want Conan to wake up to him staring at him, Light followed Aoko into the kitchen-stopping at the counter to give her space to work.

"Aoko-chan, do you like kids?" He chanced asking.

"Mmhm!" She admitted with a cheerful nod as she set the table-being meticulous about which side she setting the knives and forks on. "They're so much fun! Aoko can't wait to have her own someday."

Light just smiled. It was fine if she wanted kids someday, but before that she was going to have to stop talking in the third person-she was about to be in her final year of highschool, after all. He moved over to wrap his arms around her from behind and pull her into him.

"I'm sure you'd make a wonderful mother." He whispered against her ear, causing her to shiver. He pressed a kiss against her jawbone and ignored Ryuk's question about if Light wanted to have kids with her.

"Wh-What are you-?" Aoko started to protest and he felt her shiver as he pressed a kiss to her neck. However, he had to pull away when he heard the front door open. Aoko's face was flushed and she stammered a few words at him before needlessly straightening her skirt and going to greet Kuroba at the door.

"You shouldn't do that with a kid in the room." Conan's irritated voice sounded between coughs. Light turned to face him and noticed how red in face he was and how cloudy his eyes looked. He really was sick.

"You're not really a kid." Light countered, leaning against the sofa to get a good look at the sick child. Conan scoffed, turning away as he did and groped around for his glasses. He looked exactly like that Kudou Shinichi.

"Doesn't mean I want to see that." He shoved the glasses on. Conan yawned and looked around the room carefully. No doubt he was taking notes and deducing everything he could about Aoko and her family.

"You suffered through a cracked rib like it was nothing, but a little cold is just too much for you?" Light asked, a hint of amusement in his voice. Conan just narrowed his eyes.

"It can't be helped-The poison messed up my immune system." He admitted. "Or at least, Haibara said it did." Light frowned. Knowing that took the amusement out of it and just made it kind of.. Sad.

"Kaito! Don't do that!" Aoko's angry voice interrupted his thoughts and Light let out a sigh.

"Excuse me, I need to go make sure Kuroba isn't inappropriately touching my girlfriend."

"Eh?" Conan blinked, trying to process that information. Which part of it, Light wasn't sure but by the look on his face, he'd say he was having difficulty with the 'inappropriately touching' part. He slid off the couch and seemed to sway for a moment but shook it off to follow the other into the entrance hall.

oooOOOooo

Kaito's eyes snapped to Yagami and the little detective as they stepped into the hall. He didn't get it, if Kudou knew that Yagami was Kira then what was he doing hanging around him so casually? Shouldn't he have told the police or something? He knew the little detective well enough to know that if he wasn't moving to immediately throw Kira behind bars then there had to be a reason. It had just better be a good one considering it was putting Aoko in danger.

He moved out of the room before the little detective could lay eyes on him as that would make for a very awkward conversation, and went to stuff the stolen phone in Kudou's jacket pocket. He heard Aoko griping about him and then smirked at the slight tone of wonder in her voice as she'd realised he'd disappeared.

"Magicians." Aoko huffed angrily. "Never become a magician Conan-kun, they're nothing but annoying-you should keep up with detective work." She was saying fondly.

"Mm! I prefer detective work anyway. Ne, who is Kaito, anyway?" The overly innocent and curious tones of Edogawa Conan had Kaito suddenly nervous. Aoko just sighed.

"Just my idiot best friend." She offered. "His dad was a magician so now he thinks he's one too."

"He sure pulled off disappearing like a magician." Conan offered helpfully. He couldn't already suspect, could he? He heard Yagami scoff and then the sound of footprints returning towards the living room. Kaito ducked behind the couch and made a quick escape without being seen-or so he thought. Conan might have glanced his way at one point but he couldn't have been sure.

He didn't exactly want to leave Aoko alone with Yagami-especially since they'd moved to kissing in their relationship-but the brat was there so that should be enough to keep them apart and seeing Yagami so close to Aoko made up his mind that he couldn't wait until the next heist to talk to the Osakan detective.

Which is exactly why three hours later, Hattori Heiji was pulling his front door open and scowling at the Kaitou Kid disguised once again as Kudou Shinichi. Surely Kudou had warned him how dangerous that was by now? At least there was no reason to think his house was being watched by those guys. Heiji held the door open and gestured for Kid to step inside.

"So ya couldn' wait? Nakamori's daughter must really mean somethin' to ya." He rolled his eyes and led the thief back to his room. He watched as the thief's eyes roamed over the walls and then finally settled on the window-no doubt he was hatching an escape plan just in case he needed one. Heiji sat down at his desk chair and offered Kid the bed.

"Why isn't Kudou turning Kira in?" Kid got right to the point and Heiji looked uncomfortable-trying to decide how much he'd be permitted to tell the thief and how much Kudou would rather withhold.

"Long story short? He can't." Heiji offered matter-of-factly.

"Not enough evidence?" Kid asked. Heiji shook his head.

"No, it's more-er.. How much do ya know about his his.. Er… condition?" Heiji asked. Kid paused to think about it. He doubted that Kudou had told him much-the only reason he'd told Heiji was because his back was up against a wall.

"I suppose, mostly just what you were kind enough to divulge." Kid offered. Heiji cursed under his breath as he considered just how upset Kudou might be if he found out that they had this conversation without him present.

"Yeah-well the group that did it is after Kira's weapon and they've already infiltrated the Kira Taskforce. Any information that Kudou gives them would be like tellin' it ta that organisation and trust me when I say, ya don't want that."

"And that's why Kudou's been so stressed out?" Kid asked carefully, no doubt thinking over the information. "He feels trapped?"

Heiji sighed. "More or less." He opted not to tell the thief about the ultimatum, it was probably for the best the thief didn't realise just how much pressure was on the little detective. "He's hopin' ta just convince Kira ta destroy his weapon -that way no one gets it. I think he should destroy the thing 'imself but apparently he got Yagami to agree ta stop usin' it fer now."

"So that's his major plan? Befriend Kira and convince him to stop killing once and for all?" Kid asked, a little appalled that this was the best the the detective could come up with. Kira was dating his best friend, and if nothing was done then there'd be nothing to stop him from dating from dating her.

"It's th' only one he has th' moment. What's got inta you?" Heiji chanced asking. "Is Nakamori's daughter really that important to ya? Why don't you try ta just win her over?" He fixed the thief with a look. Kid's face paled then turned an interesting shade of red. If only Kudou could have seen this.

"N-No! I mean-It's not like-I'm just concerned about Nakamori-keibu, that's all." Kid denied, blush still obvious.

"Uh-huh." Heiji didn't believe him. "I totally believe that ya came all th' way out ta Osaka to discuss th' fact yer worried about th' guy tryin' ta put ya in jail and an officer of the law tha' Kira's got no reason ta hurt. What about Hakuba? That bastard seemed ta have a soft spot fer yer girl and you were prickly ta him too. Ya aren't as smooth as ya seem ta think." Kid paled again and then stood up.

"Don't tell anyone we've had this conversation." He demanded before bowing and then heading for the door. "I have to get back to Tokyo to plan a heist." He offered Hattori one last glare for laughing before disappearing out the door.

oooOOOooo

Aoko had a problem. A big problem. She glanced over at the thief currently passed out on the floor, bleeding profusely from his side. He was starting to sweat and that fact didn't sit well with Aoko for several reasons. The first being that it meant he'd suffered severe blood loss and she had no way to bandage him not to mention he probably wouldn't let her get that close, and the second being that you couldn't sweat through a mask. Kid had claimed to be wearing her best friend's face but it seemed at the moment that he'd been lying. If he wasn't wearing a mask and he looked like Kaito then did that mean…? She shook her head and focused instead on the cushions on the floor.

They had to be there for some reason but they all looked the same. She glanced around again as a memory of Kaito explaining to her how a card trick worked fluttered to mind. The trick then had been to look close and find the difference-was it the same here? She recalled her mother telling her once that the side of a the cushion without a stitch was the front. From that she was able to find the correct cushion and flip it over so that it matched the others. Once she did, part of the wall fell away to reveal several keyholes. This trap room seemed to be never ending….

Aoko awoke to the sound of her father bursting into the room, shouting Kid's name and demanding to know where Aoko was.

"Aoko!" Her dad exclaimed happily at seeing she was unharmed. Hakuba slid in after, moving to the window and glancing down.

"And he's already escaped, of course." He stated before turning towards the chief priest Yasuyo. "Seriously, what is going on here?"

"K-Kid! It was all that damn Kid's doing!" The priest immediately offered. "When I returned here, I found Kid trespassing. I tried to catch him with the help of the Arizato Juuken people but failed. He stole the priceless treasure in this safe!" She gestured to the empty safe.

Aoko blinked blearily down at her phone. "Ah? Aoko's phone is recording?" In an instant, Hakuba was knelt down beside her, his hand out slightly.

"May I see that?" He asked. Aoko nodded and passed it over before Hakuba helped her to stand on her feet again. Kid had recorded the conversation between him and the chief priest-proving who was the mastermind behind all of this and revealing that the chief priest had been planning to murder him. Hakuba left the arrest to Nakamori and turned his attention to Aoko again. "Aoko-san, you look pale."

"What do you mean? Aoko's fine." She said defensively before glancing around the room-it seemed Kaito really had escaped. Hakuba patted her shoulder for a moment and looked like he was about say something but Aoko didn't give him the chance. "Aoko's going to call Light-kun." She announced, ducking away from the detective.


	33. Infiltrate

"Aoko?" Light stopped walking and she walked right into him. She was unusually quiet for having been trapped with Kaitou Kid for a few hours. Surely she'd be ranting about how much of jerk he was and how much she hated him but she'd just stayed quiet, staring at the ground the whole way back to her house. "Is something bothering you?"

"Eh?" She asked, looking up at him. His eyes narrowed slightly as it looked like she was about to cry. Had that bastard done something to her? "Oh… no, I'm just really glad to be out of there." She offered him a painfully fake smile. She wasn't much of a liar. He couldn't make her tell him though and opted to just take her hand and start walking again.

"She's upset about something." Ryuk offered, unhelpful as ever. She was obviously upset and Light really wanted to know why but she wouldn't tell him if he pressed the issue too much and only get defensive.

At long last they reached her house and he turned to face her-She still looked like she was going to cry. He couldn't leave her like this-she'd obviously gone through something traumatic so it'd be a mistake to leave her alone right now. He didn't really want to stay with her when she was obviously depressed but the fact that she wasn't ranting and raving about Kid spoke volumes about her mental state. He held his hand out for her house key and got the lock undone himself once she handed it over.

"I'm going to stay with you until your dad gets back." He stated, whenever that would be. If Kira weren't on a forced hiatus he might have been more annoyed but now he didn't have much else to do. Aoko just nodded sullenly and stepped into her house, Light following behind. He herded her over to the kitchen and set about making tea. He'd been over here enough times that he knew the layout of the kitchen fairly well. Aoko was obviously not paying much a attention or she would have insisted on doing it herself. Whatever that bastard had done had really messed her up.

Once the tea kettle was on the stove he moved over to her, kneeling down to push her hair gently behind her ear. The contact seemed to get a response and he watched as her vision refocused.

"Light-kun!" She sounded almost shocked. She really hadn't been paying attention.

"Yes. Don't you remember? I came to get you." He told her. "You've been awfully quiet the whole evening. I'm starting to get concerned that Kid did something to you." He gently pressed. Aoko looked confused a moment, trying to figure out what he meant. Apparently not then. So then why was she so upset?

"He didn't-I think he protected me." She started slowly, as if trying to process the thought.

"Protected you?" Light watched her closely. It wasn't that shocking a revelation-after all Kid was known for being generally nonviolent and seemed to hate when people got hurt. Was she upset that he protected her?

"Because he did-he fell on the glass case." She said shakily. "He was bleeding really badly…" So the person that she hated most had just risked his life for her-she was probably feeling a bit confused. He suddenly liked the idea of her being stuck with that thief even less. He placed his hands on her shoulders, startling her into looking at him as he moved to press a kiss to her lips-only slightly possessive.

"If he protected you, then I have to admit I'm grateful." He told her. "I don't think I could handle losing you." He watched as her cheeks went red. It was almost fun to watch her face change colors. "The important thing is, you're safe now." Light told her, pressing another kiss to her lips as he moved his hands to the side of her face to deepen the kiss. She responded wonderfully if not a bit awkwardly. He kissed her again, slow and coaxing. He could feel her hesitate before her hands came up to rest on his shoulders. One hand cupped gently around her cheek and the other moved down, running over her chest before going behind her back so that he could pull her into him.

Aoko wasn't entirely sure why she let things go so far. One minute she felt like the weight of the world was on her shoulders and everything around her was hazy, almost as if she were in a daze. The the next moment she was in her bed with Light with no doubt as to what she'd done. Maybe it was because Light had been so gentle and understanding, or maybe because she was just that upset with Kaito. Maybe she wanted to hurt him in someway for hurting her-for lying to her. She had to remind herself that she didn't know for a fact that Kaito was Kid, so there'd be no reason act so irrationally.

Light's arm and leg draped over her so she couldn't move. She could feel his warm, even breath against her. She swallowed and looked towards her window. What had she done? This wasn't what she wanted, was it? Memories flooded back of Light pulling her off the chair, his warm hands gently exploring but never without permission. At the time, she was sure that was what she wanted. It had helped her to forget about the disturbing truth she'd realized but now that it was over she wasn't entirely sure how she felt. Not that it really mattered now.

"Aoko." She felt him mutter against her before he looking up at her. "Are you okay?" He asked, reaching up to push some hair out of her face. "I think things got a little out of hand."

"M-Mm…" Aoko nodded, staring at him through the darkness, unsure of how else to answer. Light pushed himself up enough to press a kiss against her lips and Aoko curled in a little closer. For now, she'd appreciate that he was warm and honestly seemed concerned.

oooOOOooo

March was melting away just as Feburary had done and Heiji was starting to get anxious on Kudou's behalf. There hadn't been any word from that organisation that he was aware of and Kudou continued to act as though things were normal. Meanwhile, Heiji had come up with a plan to maybe weed out the organisation member hiding in the Kira Taskforce. He'd join up himself and hopefully get Kudou to convince Yagami not to kill him since he wasn't really after him.

This, of course meant he'd be spending a lot more time in Tokyo-practically every weekend. He made a quick call to Yagami's dad and put in a request to be considered on the taskforce. He was lucky in that Yagami Soichiro happened to have been around L at the time of his call and was given permission to come to the hotel currently being used as headquarters. There was something about L's tone though, that Heiji didn't trust.

He hadn't told Kudou of his plan yet as he knew he'd immediately object but this was the best plan he could think of and their time was rapidly running out. Heiji was led into the hotel where he was checked for weapons and the like. As if a seventeen year old would have weapons on him. Once he was cleared, Heiji was led into a room where the other members of the task force were sitting. One of these people, he thought as he narrowed his eyes at each and every one of them, was a member of that organisation out for Kudou's life. None of them looked particularly suspicious but then again, he supposed that was the point of being undercover.

First up was Yagami Soichiro-san himself- he seemed to be suffering a lot of stress and most of his dark hair had turned to gray. Second was Aizawa Shuichi- relatively dark skinned with a pretty impressive afro. He seemed irritated and maybe a bit antsy, then there was Mogi Kanzo- he was a pretty broadman with hair that stuck up. He was big but he didn't look particularly fierce. Ukita Hirokazu was a small man and didn't seem to be much of a threat. Touta Matsuda was a joke. He had slightly longer hair than the others and seemed to be constantly in the way-specifically L's way. Ide Hideki had an unfriendly face and seemed a bit gruff.

Lastly, there was L himself and his… assistant? L was in jeans and a long sleeved white t-shirt. He sat in the same crouched position with his knees up and looked like he hadn't slept a day in his life. They were a strange mix of people to be sure.

"Hattori Heiji-kun, welcome. I am Ryuuzaki. We have been exhausting some efforts in locating someone-perhaps you can be of assistance?" L asked, watching him expectantly. Locating someone? Heiji watched him right back, willing him not to say the name he was sure was on the tip of L's lips.

"Kudou Shinichi." L said the name and Heiji held his breath. "It's come to our attention that he's been missing for sometime and that you seem to be personal friends with him." Heiji narrowed his eyes. Was this the reason he'd so easily agreed to letting him in task force?

"Sorry, I haven't spoke ta Kudou in some time-I'm startin' ta worry that th' rumour floatin' aroun' 'bout his death was right." Heiji responded with a nervous shrug. He could tell by the look on L's face that he didn't believe him. "An besides, aren' we here ta catch Kira? That doesn' really have anythin' ta do with Kudou."

"The truth is Hattori-kun," Soichiro started. "L thinks there's a chance that Kudou-kun might be Kira since no one has seen him and it does seem like he is alive somewhere."

Heiji just couldn't help it-he laughed. He burst out laughing, holding his sides and taking in big gulps of air as he hadn't had a laugh that good for some time. Just wait until Kudou heard about this.

"I don't see what you find funny." L stated.

"Kudou? As in Kudou Shinichi the Holmes of the modern era? No way. Yer way off." Heiji waved his hand once he was able to calm down a bit. "Look, that guy wouldn't have it in him ta kill anyone let alone thousands. He's more likely ta risk his life tryin' ta save a criminal rather than try ta off one. No way Kudou's Kira."

"You said you thought he might be dead but referred to him in the present tense." L pointed out, eyes narrowing. "Do you mind explaining?" Heiji paled slightly. Had he just fallen for a trap? He couldn't exactly say where Kudou was or that he did happen to be in contact with him. However, if he admitted that he had to protect Kudou's identity then the Organisation would know he was definitely alive.

"I ain't heartless." Heiji quickly came up with, sounding offended. "Kudou just so happens ta be my best friend, so o' course I wouldn't want ta think he's dead."

"And if he's not, which I strongly suspect, then we will need to know where's he's been. It is unusual, is it not, that he hasn't surfaced if he values life as highly as you seem to think he does?" L pointed out. He was right of course, if Kudou were in a position to do so, he'd probably be right here with him. "It is also strange, is it not, that even though Kudou Shinichi-kun is said to be missing there is no official missing person's report. Not even his parents have made an inquiry as to his whereabouts."

Heiji swallowed, eyes involuntarily flickering towards the others as he was suddenly very aware of their eyes on him. He wanted more than anything to just run up and cover L's mouth with his hand and yell at him to shut up. He couldn't do anything suspicious though-Kudou had warned him if the organisation had reason to suspect someone was on to them they would move in fast.

"I uh… wouldn't know anythin' about that. Sorry." Heiji turned back to L cold black eyes of L. Again, he could tell that L didn't believe him. Maybe this was a bad idea. Kudou was going to kill him.

L's eyes narrowed at the Osakan. It was almost painfully obvious that he was lying. It seemed that while Hattori Heiji was celebrated as the great detective of the West and the Pride of Osaka he wasn't so great at lying. L watched the nervous glances over at the task force-what did he know?

"I am of the understanding that Kudou-kun and Edogawa Conan-kun are well acquainted. Is this true?" He pressed. Hattori looked, if possible, more uncomfortable. He swallowed and looked back at L with a slight shrug.

"They're distant cousins. Which is pretty public knowledge so…" Hattori offered awkwardly. L wasn't satisfied with that answer and only continued to stare the Osakan down. Whatever it was that Conan knew, Hattori must have known as well.

"I would ask Conan-kun directly but it seems he's contacted his FBI friends and the director have forbidden me from interrogating him any further." L stated.

"Aa, well that's too bad." Hattori said insincerely.

"You, however, are fairly close with Edogawa, are you not? Perhaps you can manage to get the information he seems determined to hide." L decided. Hattori swallowed-there was no way that L really thought that he'd betray Kudou like that, was there?

oooOOOooo

"You did _what?_ " Shinichi demanded as Hattori finished telling him that he'd managed to join the task force over lunch. As had been expected of him, Shinichi did not take the news well. "What were you thinking?! If they realise the real reason you joined up then-"

"Yeah, I know." Hattori cut him off. "I just gotta make sure it doesn't come ta that, right?" He flashed Shinichi a self-assured smile. It didn't inspire much confidence in the other considering he'd seen what the organisation was capable of. "Er...I know ya got 'im on a very short leash but do ya think ya could tell Yagami that I'm not after him?"

Shinichi just gave him a very unimpressed look but pulled his phone out all the same to shoot a quick text stating that Hattori had joined the task force with the intention of finding the mole. Once he'd finished, Shinichi set the phone on the table and snatched up his iced coffee.

"You're playing a dangerous game, Hattori." Shinichi informed him, poking at the ice with his straw.

"Yeah, but so are you" He pointed out. "By th' way, L said that th' FBI director won' let him talk to ya anymore-what'd ya say to pull that off?"

"Nothing. I just informed one of the agents that the stakes were too high-it's not just my life that's in danger after all. So they claimed I was a key witness in another case and that they couldn't risk my life for Kira."

"Well, it ain't far from th' truth, I guess…" Hattori shrugged. "Though I doubt it stops L fer too long. He doesn' seem th' type ta back off so easily-in fact he wanted ta see if ya'd tell me what ya know."

"At least that means that L still doesn't know who I really am." Shinichi sighed, taking a drink of his coffee. Hattori nodded in agreement and looked down at the curry on his plate.

"Ya know Kudou… you should probably have some of this-I noticed ya seem to have lost some of th' very little weight that ya still have." Hattori pressed. Shinichi shot him a glare and then looked at the curry-Hattori probably got his favorite food on purpose since he was more likely to eat it. With a slight sigh, Shinichi reached over and grabbed the extra spoon and napkin. "There's one other thing…" Hattori started, sounding a little uneasy. Conan looked up just as he'd scooped up a bit of curry and rice. "Yer on the suspect list."

"What?" Shinichi asked. "As Conan?" That was childish on whole new level.

"N-No…" Hattori said awkwardly. "It's uh… as Kudou Shinichi." He admitted. Shinichi dropped his spoon, his face going immediately pale. "K-Kudou! It's okay, they still don't know where ya are-there's still that rumour that yer dead."

Shinichi swallowed and took in a deep breath before looking up at the Osakan detective currently trying to prevent the oncoming panic attack. He took in a deep breath and tried to see things Hattori's way-to see how it might not be as big of a problem as he was thinking but if L started to investigate Shinichi then there was no telling what he'd be able to turn up-perhaps that the papers connecting him to Conan as distant cousins were falsified. If that information were to be shared with the task force then-

"It wouldn't take much to figure out that I'm not dead." Shinichi swallowed again, trying to keep a tight hold on his emotions.

"Er… well, he did mention…" Hattori started uncomfortably, trying to decide if he should tell him what L had said that might have been cause for alarm.

"What? What did he mention?" Shinichi demanded.

"That there was never a missing person's case filed." Hattori finally admitted. The look on Shinichi's face was all Hattori needed to know that he probably shouldn't have told him that information.

They were going to find out that he wasn't dead. Worse, they were going to realise that he'd been in contact with someone if no one had reported him dead. Why the Hell did he decide to get involved in this case again? No, that wasn't right. This wasn't even his fault-it was Yagami's for ever becoming- he swallowed. Blaming Yagami wasn't going to solve anything-he just needed to keep a close eye on what the task force was able to dig up. How much longer could he go before they realised that Edogawa Conan _was_ Kudou Shinichi?

oooOOOooo

With little else to do, Light had spent a vast majority of his time with Aoko. She was fast asleep with her head resting on his shoulder. He felt his phone buzz in his pocket and very carefully pulled it out to read the text from Conan. He wasn't sure he liked the idea of that Osakan detective being on the task force but it wasn't as if he could object. At least this way they'd have some kind of way to keep tabs on the investigation. However, this might alert Hattori to the fact that he was the prime suspect for Kira. He'd much prefer if he could get on the investigation team himself.

He store his phone away and shifted a little so he'd be in a more comfortable position with Aoko. She was something of a heavy sleeper, as he'd found, and seemed much more stressed than usual lately. That encouraging smile that he liked so much on her hadn't been nearly as heartfelt or warm as it usually was. He wondered if it was because he'd pushed her too far that night but she hadn't said anything the last few times he'd had her in his bed. It was probably Kuroba that had her so stressed-if this kept up he'd have to have a word with him.

He gently moved Aoko off his shoulder and slid off the bed. He paused to pull the blanket up over her shoulders and then pulled his phone out again, dialing Conan.

"It's me." Light announced the moment he'd picked up the phone.

"Yagami." Conan's voice sounded almost distant, as though he were mostly distracted. "What's up?"

"Your text." Light looked back at Aoko before slipping onto his balcony. "Hattori-san joined the task force? Doesn't he live in Osaka?"

"Aa." Conan answered easily, his attention finally turning to the phone call. "However, he's going to be transferring to Teitan High to keep a better eye on things for now."

"I see." Light responded. "Just make sure he doesn't know anymore than he needs to." The words were light but there was a clear threat in them that he was sure wasn't lost on the brat. There was a long silence on the other end before Conan answered, his voice low and dangerous.

"If you hurt _anyone_ close to me then my incentive to keep quiet about what I know lessens _significantly_." He said sharply. "The only thing that's keeping me quiet is the danger my friends would be in if the truth were to get out. So don't even _think_ about threatening me. It won't end well for you."

Light glared at the phone and gritted his teeth. Was he bluffing? Conan had made it clear he thought that the organisation getting a hold of the the Death Note would result in a global catastrophe so would he really turn Kira in? Did his friends really mean that much to him? He hated the control this soft-hearted brat still managed to hold over him.

He hadn't gotten any closer to working out Haibara or Conan's real names and he'd never be able to take one out without the other turning him in. He'd have to have both names in order to have any control over them.

"What's the matter, Light? Things not going according to your plan?" Ryuk chuckled, wincing at the impressive glare that Light shot his way.

"Just keep me updated on what the task force knows." Light finally got out. Conan made a sharp noise of acknowledgement before he clicked the line off. Light let out a sigh and again contemplated the chance that Conan was bluffing but the boy had already proven himself a force to be reckoned with.


	34. University

**((** AN: So we are crawling into April and a lot is about to go down. I know a lot of people were wondering if Misa was going to make an appearance in this and if so when. Well, wait no longer, we've officially reached Misa! She won't interact with the main cast for probably another few chapters though as she doesn't meet Light until May. ))

 **March 12th**

The life of the up and coming idol Amane Misa had not been an easy one. Over the summer she'd lost her parents in a home invasion. The worst part had been that even though she was a witness to the terrible crime the murderer seemed like he was going to walk away from the crime with little more than a slap on the wrist. Heart broken that the system could fail her in such a devastating manor, Misa had sunk into a hefty depression-moving through her life with dull eyes and empty smiles.

And then, on February second something happened. The man that had killed her parents suddenly succumbed to a fatal heart attack. The mass murderer known as Kira had struck the man responsible for causing Misa so much pain and misery dead. It felt as though justice had at last been served. Life suddenly had meaning again, her eyes returned to being bright and exuberant and her smiles full of cheer. Kira was her saviour and she felt a deep connection to him.

Her popularity as an idol skyrocketed and her fans doubled. Her managers and agents were happy to cheer her on but felt it was for the best that she not publicly come out as a Kira supporter. On the evening of March twelfth, Misa bid her agent a goodnight and slipped out of the office to head to her apartment.

She hummed happily to herself, hands behind her back and moved with a slight skip. She didn't notice anything wrong at first but perhaps she'd really underestimated how creepy things could suddenly be at night. She stopped at a crosswalk and heard the rustle of leave in a nearby bush. She managed to convince herself that it was little more than a cat or something of the like. The light switched to green and she continued on her way, slowing to a walk as the eerie feeling that she was being watched had slowly crept up on her. She swallowed carefully and tried to ignore the feeling.

Misa could hear footsteps behind her drawing closer and closer-a chill shot down her spine and she quickly turned to look around. Nothing but an empty street in the cool night air. She hugged her coat closer and continued on-she was almost home and she could lock herself in her apartment.

The footsteps returned and she couldn't help but to increase her walking pace slightly. The footsteps did the same and Misa took off running. She thought she might have been able to lose her pursuer down an alley and took a sharp right turn.

"No!" She came to an abrupt stop as a chain link fence was blocking her exit. She glanced back in the direction the stalker would be coming from and started to try and climb.

"Don't be a afraid!" The alarming and desperate voice sounded as a man in a dark coat approached her.

"What do you want?" She demanded, heart pounding heavily against her chest. She didn't like the look of this man. His face was pale and his cheekbone sunken in. He didn't look right and she considered her chances to climbing over the fence.

"I only want to talk to you." The man promised. Misa swallowed but slowly let go of the fence and turned to face him, pressing her back against the fence she'd just tried to climb.

"O-Okay" She agreed shakily. Maybe the man wouldn't hurt her. "But if you try anything, Misa will scream!" She warned. In a flash of silver the man had pulled out a knife and pointed it in her direction. Misa shrieked.

"I only want to be with you! I'm in love with you, Misa Misa! Don't you feel the same."

"N-No!" Misa responded with a frightened shake of her head. The man deflated as her words crashed heavily over him.

"I see... " He said sullenly before he suddenly lunged, pinning her to the fence. "Then I'll just have to kill you so you can be with your parents and then kill myself!" He decided.

"N-No! Get off! Misa doesn't want to-" She started to squirm but his grip on her shoulder suddenly tightened. He dropped the knife and backed away from her, gripping at his chest before collapsing in the alley. Misa took in several frightened breaths and looked down at the mess now on the ground. Had he just… died?

She didn't wait to find out and quickly tore away from the scene, racing down the street and back to her apartment. She slammed the door shut and bolted all four locks on her door. The adrenaline of the night was starting to quickly fade and she was quickly overcome with tears and exhaustion. Sniffling slightly and trying not think about her close call with death, Misa crawled into her bed and covered her head with the covers.

oooOOOooo

 **March 20th**

"I don't get it." Kuroba stated suddenly, lifting his head from the bar where he was sitting. The half-british detective ignored him and only continued to review the notes written in his notebook. Kuroba glared at him for not responding and huffed. "Aoko's naïve and she didn't even notice when _you_ blatantly hit on her so how did Yagami get her to agree to date him?"

Saguru rolled his eyes. He had a case to work on and it was difficult to concentrate with Kuroba throwing his tantrum. Or did he just think his pining after Aoko was more important than a serial murder? "She's gotten older." Was his singular response.

"She's not that much older. She's still only seventeen." Kuroba grumped. Apparently he did think his problem with his childhood friend was more important than the serial murder. Saguru closed his notebook and let out a sigh.

"Kuroba. I'm only going to say this once; It's none of your business." He stated calmly. "Aoko-kun can date whom Aoko-kun wants and shouldn't have to worry that her friends might object out of jealousy."

"I'm not objecting out of jealousy." Kuroba snapped. Saguru opened his notebook again. Why was he at the blue parrot anyway? He knew that Kuroba worked here and it wasn't like there was a heist scheduled.

"Then why are you objecting?" Saguru challenged. Kuroba started to respond but shut his mouth and went back to grouching. "I've asked my father about him," Saguru offered. "He assured me that Yagami-kun is an upstanding student and because of the work he's done for them in the past can't wait to welcome him, officially onto the force-Aoko-kun is happy with him, please let it go and stop acting as if you own her."

"I'm not acting-wait." Kuroba paused, working something out in his head. "You did a background check on Yagami? You might want to check again." Saguru sighed again and shook his head.

"Of course, I wanted to make certain that she was in good hands. My investigations led me to the conclusion that she will be well provided for should he choose to ask her hand."

"A-ask her hand?" Kuroba bolted to an upright position and nearly knocked the glass of juice over. "You mean ask her to _marry_ him?" Saguru rolled his eyes, he should have avoided mention of that. He'd known it would only upset the thief but Kuroba really needed to let it go.

"He would be well within his right to." Saguru explained as though talking to a six year old. "Japanese law states that a boy must be at least eighteen years of age before he can marry, but a girl need only be sixteen, is that not so?"

"...Yes." Kuroba growled. "But why are we talking about this? I don't wanna think about them getting married! Especially since-"

"Kuroba, she's been dating Yagami-kun since December. It's nearly April now. You're only going to drive her away if you continue to upset her like you've been doing. Besides, I doubt he'd be remotely interested in getting married before he finished college. Not without good reason, anyway." Saguru clarified. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a very vicious serial murder to solve."

"You still solve murder cases?" Kuroba leaned over to peek at the notebook in his hand. Saguru snapped it shut.

"Of course. You don't jeopardize all my time." He stated smoothly. "And best if you don't look-this case hasn't made it to the public yet. It's a bit gruesome." Kuroba gave him a look as if considering his sanity but then his eyes flattened out and he went back to slumping on the bar counter.

"How many times do I have to tell you I'm not Kid." He grumped.

"Whatever." Saguru said dismissively. "The point remains. Besides, it hasn't been the Kid that has been monopolising my time as of late-but someone unable to accept the fact their friend is dating someone that isn't them."

"That's not what I'm upset about!" Kuroba objected, slamming his fist on the bartop and startling Saguru slightly.

"Okay." He held his hands up slightly in defeat. "Then please, tell me what has you upset." Kuroba took in a breath and shifted uneasily in his seat. Saguru gave him a look that clearly said to get on with it.

"...I don't trust him." Kuroba finally offered. "And I don't think you should either."

"Kuroba we're going around in cir-"

"I would much prefer if it were you dating Aoko instead." He blurted, giving the detective pause. Kuroba close to hated him-if he was saying he'd rather Aoko be dating _him_ then perhaps there was a reason Kuroba just didn't like him.

"...So... is that a case from overseas?" Kuroba asked, shifting the subject. Saguru shook his head.

"No, I'm afraid it's from here. My Father asked me to look into it in place of violent crimes since they are currently busy with the Kira case."

"And here I thought the crime rate had gone down." Kuroba shrugged.

"The official crime rate has-but at the same time criminals have gotten a lot more sneaky with their crimes and these particularly gruesome deaths appear to be accidental at first glance. Things like a treadmill rigged to throw the runner into a shelf positioned just so it falls crushes the victim."

"Yeesh." Kuroba made a face, no doubt thinking about the carnage that would have been involved in such an accident. "Any connection between the victims? Like did they get off the same plane that shortly after exploded?"

"No." Saguru shook his head. "Not as of yet, it may just be that the murderer is only trying to see how long he can go without getting killed by Kira-a challenger of sorts." Kuroba let out a very disappointed sigh.

"You've never seen final destination, have you?"

"...No, Of course not. I don't have time for horror movies." Saguru sounded positively offended at the notion. Kuroba rolled his eyes.

"Aoko and I have a designated movie night-I'd invite you but you're too busy." Kuroba told him. Saguru rolled his eyes right back.

"...What do you know about Yagami? Or is it simply that you think he's turning her against you?" He asked, returning the subject to where it had been. Kuroba just stared at him a moment before deflating slightly.

"...I can't tell-" He started before the question fully registered. "Wait. What? Turning her against me? I mean, she's been a little weird around me lately but I wouldn't say he-what do you know?"

"I know that _you_ aren't very nice to Aoko, that you constantly belittle her, call her names, flip her skirt much to her annoyance and that you've copped a feel on her on multiple occasions." Saguru said darkly. "I also know that Yagami is _very_ against this behaviour and honestly? So am I."

"When the Hell did this become about how I treat Aoko? She's my best friend. She knows I don't mean anything by it." Kuroba glared. "I call her uncute and she calls me an asshole. That's just how we are."

"Yes." Saguru admitted, though he didn't agree with it, he could see where Kuroba might have gotten that idea, especially since Aoko herself had mentioned that he didn't think he'd meant anything by it. "However, Aoko is starting to question it because while the insults are bad enough you also don't seem to take no for an answer."

"What do you mean?" Kuroba asked dangerously, proving once and for all the issue had always been that he was just an idiot.

"To put it bluntly, Kuroba, Yagami doesn't want you sexually harassing his girlfriend."

"What the Hell do you mean, sexually harassing his girlfriend?" Kuroba demanded, temper starting to flare.

"You can't honestly be this stupid." Saguru muttered to himself. "I mean, when Aoko says to stop doing something you need to stop. She doesn't want you flipping her skirt or grabbing her ass and chest-so do her a favor and respect her wishes."

"I don't see what that has to do with-" Kuroba started to object.

"Kuroba. At this point I'd like to think you wouldn't push things to far but if you don't stop when she tells you to now then I'm inclined to ask will you stop later when it really matters?" Kuroba suddenly reached out and grabbed the detective's arm.

"I would never hurt her." He obviously wasn't true but he wasn't exactly trying to start anything, so Saguru just boredly removed the Magician's hand from his arm.

"I don't think that you would." He stated. "At least not on purpose." He couldn't help but add. Before Kuroba could object Saguru opted to steer the subject away from that. So what's your reason for not trusting Yagami?" He paused, thinking about it. "..If you think there's any way that Aoko's in any kind of danger with him you had better tell me now." Kuroba just looked guilty. Was it because what he'd said was finally starting to sink in? Or was Aoko actually in some kind of danger?

"Forget I said anything." He finally said after a long pause and stood up from this seat. "I'm… gonna head home. See you tomorrow detective."

"Kuroba, what are you hiding?" this time, Saguru reached out to grab his arm. Kuroba jumped and stared at him a long moment before prying his arm free.

"I'm not hiding anything." Aside from the fact that he was actually Kaitou Kid anyway. "As you said-I'm just...just jealous." The fact the Kuroba was conceding to the fact that he was jealous told the detective that it wasn't just because he was jealous. Perhaps he'd need to talk to Yagami again.

oooOOOooo

Shinichi climbed up on the stool so that he could reach the bathroom sink and finish getting ready for bed. He grabbed his toothbrush and toothpaste and set about his nightly ritual. He heard something out in the living room and paused, toothbrush in mouth.

"Ran-neechan?" That was odd-Ran said she was going to spend the night at Sonoko's so they could study for some test and Kogoro was out playing Pachinko so he wouldn't be back for awhile. When no one answered Shinichi slid up against the wall so he could peer around the corner. Was someone in the apartment? He calmed his breathing as much as possible-trying to convince himself there was no way it could be Them. Wait-It could very well have been Vermouth. He swallowed and inched towards the edge to sneak out of the bathroom.

"Really detective? A toothbrush? I shudder to think what your plan was." The voice of Kaitou Kid made Shincihi's heart skip a full beat before he spun around to face the thief by the window.

"Don't sneak up on me like that! And what are you doing here?" He demanded. Kid shut the window and drew the curtains. Shinichi returned back to the bathroom to finish brushing his teeth realizing that there was no threat. Whatever Kid wanted he could talk about it while Shinichi was doing other things.

"It's about Yagami-and why you're not turning him in as Kira." Kid said seriously. Shinichi took in a quick intake of air and choked briefly on toothpaste. Kid waited for him to recover as the small detective got over the resulting coughing fit.

"Who told you that?" He turned to face the thief. Kid just watched him from just outside the bathroom.

"It wasn't hard to work out after talking to Hattori-han." He stated cooly.

"When did you-" Shinichi took in a breath and shook his head, turning the tap on on to rinse out his toothbrush. "Nevermind, I don't want to know." He put the toothbrush back and wiped his mouth off with a towel before stepping off the stool. "What do you want?"

"I don't want Yagami anywhere near Nakamori's daughter." Kid answered blunty. Shinichi considered the statement and raised an eyebrow.

"Sorry, I don't deal with this kind of thing." He said dismissively, not about to get involved in Kid's personal problems.

"Detective!" Kid's voice cracked. He recovered quickly but Shinichi had definitely heard a crack in his tone. Shinichi took a deep breath. This was _not_ how Kaitou Kid was supposed to be.

"I'll make you a deal." He decided. "Tell me exactly _why_ you want to keep Yagami away from Nakamori Aoko-san and I'll consider your request." Even though he was far too busy with other things to worry about the thief at the moment.

"She's the inspector's daughter-if anything were to happen to her then the Inspector wouldn't be as much of a challenge." Kid rattled off. Shinichi's eyes narrowed sharply.

"No." He said flatly. "If you're going to lie about it then forget it." Kid was insane if he thought for one moment he was going to believe that or that it was a good enough reason to get him to interfere in Kira's love life.

"I-I can't." Kid finally admitted. Shinichi watched him closely and then just sighed.

"Because she's your childhood friend?" He asked. Kid's eyes narrowed, no doubt wondering how he knew that or realising that Shinichi had figured out that much the other day. "That's why you've been disguising as me, isn't it?"

Kid's mouth started to move on instinct. Shinichi could see the words forming on his lips. He knew exactly how Kid must have felt. He certainly wouldn't want Ran anywhere near Yagami-thankfully he didn't really have to worry about that-as insensitive as that seemed.

"He won't hurt her." Shinichi finally voiced. "I can promise you that much at least."

"Do you know that? If he's just using her then-" Kid started. Shinichi rolled his eyes he could only be sensitive about this for so long.

"And what reason would he have to use her?" He asked. "She's a highschool girl about to be in her third year. I'm sorry, but I think in this case he might actually like her." Kid's shoulders sank a little.

"Your Osakan counterpart said the same thing." He grumbled. "And what would happen If I were to leave an anonymous tip stating-"

"You'd get her killed." Shinichi suddenly snapped. "If she's close to him then They would undoubtedly…"

"They?" Kid stepped forward, closing the distance between the two of them. "Who are They?" Realization hit the detective like a ton of bricks.

"Oh. You bastard." He spat out and Kid grinned, kneeling down next to him. Up close, Shinichi could really see just how similar their faces were-it was creepy. More than that though-there was something about that grin this time around. It wasn't nearly as confident at it usually was. "You just wanted information." He accused.

"Information you wouldn't give me unless I forced it out of you. Now tell me why you're not turning Kira into the police." Kid demanded, his eyes flashing dangerously. Shinichi's hand twitched as he considered not answering but he couldn't risk Kid going to L and turning Light in. He swallowed. Kid had no idea what he was messing with and what exactly could he say that would convince Kaitou Kid that someone targeting criminals could not be turned in like that?

"...The bombing." He mumbled lowly, eyes turning to the floor.

"Hm?" Kid pressed.

"The hospital bombing." He spoke a little louder. "That was... Them. They were reacting against Kira because he killed someone that was working for Them."

"And that was?" Kid pressed again. Shinichi glared at him.

"The head of the arson department-Isobe Yusei." He offered. The look of surprise on Kid's face was briefly satisfying.

"What? They're in the police? Why haven't you-"

"Because they're in the police! It's a global criminal organisation-I can't just tell Megure it exists-that'd get him and everyone in first division killed." He took a breath to calm his rapidly increasing heart rate. "...And now they want Kira's weapon. I'm sure you can understand why I can't let that happen."

"Then why don't you just tell-"

"I can't tell L either." Shinichi snapped. "I want to. God knows I want to. Kira shouldn't get away with the things that he's done but they've already infiltrated the Kira Taskforce and L's way of doing things would certainly get more people killed. For the moment, Kira can't kill anyone so this is the best course of action."

Kid stared at him a good long time before placing a hand on Shinichi's head which Shinichi immediately shoved off. For now, keeping Kira in check was about the best he could manage. He just had to figure out what to do about Vermouth. Maybe if he could convince her that Kira wouldn't kill again then she'd concede defeat. However, he couldn't hide his identity from Yagami forever.

"Jeez detective, no wonder Hattori-han's been worried about you." Kid stated, standing back up again and moving towards the window. "Do you ever think that maybe you try to handle too much on your own?" Shinichi rolled his eyes.

"And who else am I supposed to drag into this?" He asked as Kid undid window and opened it back up again.

"If you're ever in need of my skills then I'm sure you'd be able to find me." He climbed out onto the ledge.

"Thanks, but I'd prefer not to get anyone else involved." Shinichi responded as Kid went out the window and disappeared into the night.

oooOOOooo

 **April 5th**

Light had to admit, Conan had done a decent job of protecting his secret and keeping L off his case.

Or so he'd thought.

The first day of university couldn't have come soon enough as it would give him something else to focus on and something to do other than spend all his time around Aoko. It wasn't that he disliked spending time with her but ever since she'd gotten locked in that room with Kid she'd been quiet and withdrawn-he liked when she was quiet some of the time but this was unlike her.

She hadn't ranted about Kuroba, or Kid, she hadn't told him exactly what had happened that night and she seemed to be almost avoiding Kuroba. Anytime he'd been over in past month Aoko wouldn't really talk to him and she wouldn't instigate or respond to his constant ribbing. If he didn't know her any better he'd say she was going through a depression. He shook Aoko out of his head and focused on directing himself towards the auditorium.

"Light's in college now. I'm so proud of him." Ryuk chuckled behind him as they both made their way to the welcoming ceremony. Due the fact he'd been one of the two to score perfect marks on the entrance exam he'd been asked to read the opening statement.

Auditorium was dark and filled with the chatter of the new coming students, excited to start working towards their careers. Their class was addressed and Light was called up along with a Hideki Ryuuga who seemed to share the same name as Sayu's newest celebrity crush and scored a perfect score on the entrance exam.

Ryuuga was sloppy looking compared to Light's pristine suit and tidy appearance. The man hadn't even bother to dress up and wore only a pair of jeans and long sleeved white shirt. He had thick dark circles under his eyes and alarmingly pale skin. They both made their way up to the podium and Light wondered if there'd been some kind of mix up-no way had this person managed a perfect score-he hadn't even been able to sit in his chair properly.

They got through the entrance speech without issue and headed back to their seats.

"Yagami-kun." Hideki spoke directly to Light, catching his attention. "I know that you are Chief Yagami Soichiro's son. Your sense of Justice must be very strong." He stated. What did this man want? "I hear that you've made numerous critical contributions to help solve crimes in the past and that you're now interested in the Kira case. I trust your sense of justice and investigative skills, so if you promise not to tell this to anyone else, I am willing to share some critical information on the Kira case."

What was he going on about? Maybe he should just ignore him. Then again, he did mention he had critical information regarding Kira… "I promise, you can trust me." Light assured.

"I am L."


End file.
